


The Other Option

by Mobeen



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Gen, Independent Merlin, M/M, Merlin is So Done (Merlin), Merlin is a Little Shit (Merlin), No Sex, Oblivious Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Political Merlin, Power Dynamics, Powerful Merlin (Merlin), Pre-Slash, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:34:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 44,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23927692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mobeen/pseuds/Mobeen
Summary: Merlin has seen death and destruction in Camelot. He remained Arthur’s shadow and did nothing to help anyone except Arthur. What if at some time Merlin said enough was enough. What if Merlin worked to change his own lot? What if Merlin did not stop at himself, he helped the other servants, other peasants and the magic user’s alike? What if Merlin changed Camelot's moral compass? What if Merlin formed a parallel government right under Uther’s nose? This is the story of a BAMF Merlin who dreamed to change the social fabric of Camelot’s society and achieved something.
Relationships: Leon & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 60
Kudos: 336





	1. King Uther’s POV- AD 623-Why that servant?

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Merlin yet I want to read and write about a powerful independent Merlin.

“Moris, what is wrong?” King Uther demanded from his manservant who was looking forlorn and miserable. After ten years of being served by Moris, he understood the servant’s mood. Even though he was the king and often ignored the servants including his own manservant, he knew that the quality of service he received would be dependent on the welfare of those servicing him. So, he was always extra careful with Moris and ensured to intervene if there was anything that was affecting the efficiency of his manservant.

“Sire, it is nothing.”

“Moris, I have to attend a meeting with the councilors. Lord Herbert and Lord Steven will be giving reports of their estates after three years. I do not have time for your imprudence. Tell me what is wrong?” the King ordered sternly.

“Sire, have I somehow disappointed you?” 

“No!”

“Sire, I am your manservant and the highest-ranking servant in the castle. I am the king’s manservant. Yet, every noble, knight or lord who enters the citadel always give gifts to Merlin, the prince’s manservant.”

“Preposterous! Why would my lords and nobles give gifts to Arthur’s manservant? He is clumsy and idiotic? Are you sure?”

“Yes, Sire. Without fail, every dignitary has presented tokens to Merlin. He accepts them in the council room just after the dignitary has presented his or her gift to the royals and the nobles. He makes no secret of them; he proudly shows what he received to all in attendance. He has the best wardrobe in all the servants; he never wears castoffs. He even sometimes gifts the extras to other servants. Last winter he gave a new cloak to two stable boys, one footman, and the cook and those cloaks were extremely thick,” the servant said bitterly.

“Why is that so? Is he divulging important information to them to get such benefits?”

“He might be.”

“I will look into it. A prince’s manservant should not be paid homage to by the nobles,” Uther decidedly said. “Now get my cloak, I have to be in the council room.”

\----------

An hour later, when the King was seated on his throne, Lord Hubert came forward. “Sire, I am once again blessed to be in your company. For your knights and nobles, there is nothing worse than staying away from you but our estates need to be managed so that we can be of service to you at all times. Now that I am here, I would like to present this ring to you,” Lord Hubert beamingly said and then presented Uther with the ring.

Moris took the gift on the King’s behalf. Lord Steven took Hubert’s place and started a flowery speech. The King ignored him. The King's eye was focused on Lord Hubert as he presented Arthur with a set of engraved silver daggers and then distributed a few more gifts to high ranking nobles. Then he went to the castle custodian, Lord Mathias, and asked him for something. Lord Mathias pointed towards Arthur’s manservant who was standing in the ranks of the servants. Lord Hubert went to Merlin and handed a gift. The servant took the gift graciously but he did not bow or stammer. Lord Hubert spoke to the servant for a few more minutes and then he returned to his seat.

The King’s eye followed Lord Steven as he first presented a book to the King, a cloak for the prince, and then distributed a few more gifts before making a beeline for Merlin. He too spoke cordially with the manservant.

The King ignored the remaining council session and tried to rationalize the behavior of the lords. It was totally against the normal protocol of the court.

\------------------ 

A few days later, Lord Gregory’s son Goyle came to court. He was fourteen and hoped to become a knight of Camelot. He came to the council to pay his respect and deliver a few tokens of respect. The King’s eyes traced his route around the room. After the King, the prince and the King’s ward, he paid his respect to his father’s two best friends. While he was giving his gift to Lord Thanos, he murmured something and Lord Thanos pointed towards Merlin. Goyle went to the servant and very respectfully gave him a gift.

\-------------------

The king’s curiosity was increasing so when three days Lady Margeret came for a visit, the King asked Moris to place Merlin close to his own throne. He wanted to hear for himself the interaction between servant and noble though he was not sure if the lady would pay homage to the servant.

Lady Margeret true to his expectation went to Merlin and said, “Merlin, I have heard a great deal about you. I was told by my friends that I must make your acquaintance. I heard you are the physician's apprentice, I bought these books for you. Both of them are rare medical texts and are from my father’s library. My friend said that you return the original after copying the text. I would prefer that as these originals are very precious, not that the text itself would be rich and worth the effort.”

“My lady, thank you. I would love to read these books and thank you for allowing me to copy them. I will get them back to you before you leave. You are most benevolent.”

“Merlin, I would also like a favor?”

“All you have is to ask.”

“I am a student of History and I heard that you have been given the unabridged version of Black Heart by Nicolaus Granduke of Francia. There are only three surviving copies and two of them are in Francia. The last copy is with Lord Nigel who permitted you to copy it. I would like to have your copy for a few days.”

“My lady, I will have it delivered to you by night today. I am glad that I could be of assistance. Black Heart is a very interesting read and should be a must-read for all nobility. You will really enjoy the book especially if you enjoy the dynamics of the historical treatise which shaped the current world.”

The King was impressed not only by the resourcefulness but by the knowledge of the manservant. He was also shocked by his own nobles. He needed to dig further and find out why the nobles were courting a peasant. It was unlike them and a consistent pattern that could be a byproduct of something more sinister. A prince’s manservant barely had any power; though, he had a lot of information. He attended the council sessions, he had access to all the documents available to Arthur and he heard all the gossip in the castle. What was he giving in return for the gifts? Was he sharing Arthur’s secrets? Was he leaking out state secrets?

He asked Lady Margaret to join him for dinner. While they were eating, he casually remarked, “My dear lady, I saw you giving a gift to the prince’s manservant today. It was a noble gesture but what was the reason to bestow your generosity on him rather than my own manservant Moris.”

“Prince’s manservant?” Lady Margeret confusedly asked, “I did not give any present to the Prince’s manservant. Why would I?”

The King got angry, “Don’t lie. I saw and heard you when you handed over two books to him?”

She looked confused for a second and then she beamed, “Oh, you mean Merlin. I did not know he was the Prince’s manservant. My husband and my mother both ordered that I give a token to Merlin. Lady Elizbeth suggested that he valued books and that he may have the one book I have been searching for in his private library. My husband and father are not on friendly terms with Lord Nigel and thus I cannot ask him for a copy of the book but Merlin is known to be sweet, friendly, and helpful. There was nothing sinister behind my initiative.”

The King nodded. He had seen the clear confusion which meant that the gifts had nothing to do with Arthur. While everyone in Camelot knows Merlin was Arthur’s manservant, the nobility did not pay much notice to the servants, the hypothesis which was consistent with his expectations.

Next night, he invited Lord Hubert and Lord Steven for a private dinner. He knew neither man recognized Merlin on the first day; yet, they had brought gifts for him. When they had eaten, the King asked, “My good lords, I would like to know your reason for bestowing gifts on the prince’s manservants and not my own.”

Lord Hubert looked down, he had gone red in the face with shame. Lord Steven was still looking confused. The latter was the first to deny, “I did not give any gift to the prince’s manservant.”

Uther tautly said, “On the first day apart from courting the royal family and nobles, you gave a gift to Merlin.”

Lord Hubert submissively said, “My lord, I did not know he was the prince’s manservant otherwise I would have bought a gift for your manservant as well.”

“You did not?”

“No, Sire. It was only later when I saw the prince and manservant interacting did, I realize that Merlin was the Prince’s manservant,” the jolly red-faced Lord clarified.

“Neither did I know the connection nor did I saw Merlin with the prince. I never paid attention to servants and I cannot even point out your manservant sire,” Lord Steven clarified.

“So, neither of you knew that Merlin was Arthur’s servant; yet, both of you bought gifts for him from your estates.”

Lord Hubert snarled, “Sometimes, some servants gain power. When I was leaving for Camelot, the representatives of the trader’s guild came to me. They told me that I have to be courteous to the servants in Camelot. They also suggested that I give a present to Merlin on the first day. I was about to refuse when they said that it was for the wellbeing of my own estate and for my own future cashflows. The guild members told me about a story of a knight potential who stuck Merlin in the streets of Camelot. Until the lord himself publicly apologized and took his son back home, the traders in lower town gave them the worst deals. The lord had only two options: to apologize or to take his trade to Mercia which would have invoked your ire. I don’t know whether I believe the story or not but I have been extra careful with the servants. I do not want to publicly apologize to any servant.”

Lord Steven was nodding, “I was told a similar story by the leader of my trader’s guild. I never notice the servants. Their duty is to serve and remain unseen. So, I am never harsh on them. They only asked me to be benevolent to Merlin. While it was demeaning, I cannot consciously anger my trader’s guild so, I went along with it.”

The King was even more baffled. He never expected this reply. Why were the trader’s guilds interested in Arthur’s manservants? What information was the manservant releasing to those guild members?

The next day, the King called Arthur for a private meeting.


	2. Arthur’s POV- AD 623- You mean my servant?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur began his investigation.

“Arthur, do you know why all the nobles are courting your manservant?”

Arthur immediately became more attentive, “No, my lord. Why would they? Merlin is an idiot. There is no reason for them to ‘court’ my manservant.”

“Arthur, I have seen it with my own eyes. Once Moris pointed out, I saw every newcomer to the court giving Merlin presents. There is a trend and I want to know the reason for my noble’s interest in your servant. If there is something ominous going about, I want you to stop it. If he is releasing private information, I want you to cuff him and cut his tongue.”

Arthur balked but lowered his head. This was bad. He noticed that nobles were attentive towards his manservant and he was jealous but he never connected it with something sinister. Why should he? Merlin was a loyal fool. He would never betray Arthur’s trust.

\----------------- 

Arthur had known Merlin for four years. Since the day, a peasant had openly challenged the prince, the two had been inseparable. Merlin had walked into Arthur’s life and then set himself as a central pole around whom Arthur’s life rotated. The prince knew that his manservant had slowly wormed his way in and now Arthur could not picture a future without Merlin at his side.

Both of them had their duties. Arthur trained with his knights and attended council sessions. Merlin did his duties around the castle and in Arthur’s rooms. He was also Gaius’ apprentice, thus many parts of Merlin’s life were mysterious to Arthur and mostly he tolerated it.

Arthur also realized that Merlin was not your run in the mill type of servant. He was different. He was extremely loyal. How many servants would drink poison for their masters or follow them from one danger to another?

Merlin was also a scholar. He knew how to read and write and he was studying under Gaius. Many a day, Arthur had entered his chambers to see Merlin perched on his table with a book in his hands. Arthur did not like to read and he was amazed at the variety of literature Merlin read. Merlin did not read poetry or romances. He often read medical texts but he could be seen reading history books, war stories, or treatises. Arthur never understood Merlin’s fascination with philosophy, sociology, and psychology. 

Merlin also did not understand the differences between the ranks. He treated Arthur like an equal and seldom showed proper deference even in public. After the first year, once Merlin learned his rights as Arthur’s manservant and Gaius apprentice, he always took his claim. Merlin never stood behind Arthur in the council room. He preferred to stand as Gaius’ apprentice and Arthur was served by other servants. Similarly, at feasts, Merlin refused to let go of his right to attend as apprentice and Arthur was served wine by other servants. Arthur, sometimes got jealous when he saw Merlin surrounded by his friends. He barely looked at Arthur during those feasts when he was busy with his other friends.

Merlin’s friend group was also peculiar. There were a few knights. Sir Lancelot was a peasant born and Sir Gwaine was a drunkard; these two were Merlin’s best friends in the knights. They almost always sat with Merlin on feasts. Then there was Guenivere, Morgana’s ex-maidservant, who was also Merlin’s best female servant friend. The cook and Merlin were close. A few maids, footmen, stable boys, dog trainers, and other apprentices made the bulk of the friend’s group. Merlin was friendly with many traders and merchants. On any feast, the lower town representatives would always join Merlin’s group. While Arthur did not know how these friendship bonds formed, he knew that Merlin had a large social circle and was treated as the leader of his friend’s group.

Merlin had the knack to speak a lot and say nothing. He never told Arthur how he met and befriended his numerous friends. He told Arthur a lot about those people but not his relationship with them. Arthur knew Merlin kept his secrets.

One night when Arthur needed Merlin, he went to Gaius’ chamber to find Merlin. Gaius claimed that Merlin was at a tavern drinking the night away. This happened again and after the fifth time Gaius gave him the same excuse, Arthur had his knights search all the tavern while he waited in Merlin’s room. None of the knights found Merlin. Merlin sneaked back into his room a few hours later. He was tired but not drunk. He told Arthur he went on an excursion to the forest to settle his mind and told him about his so-called adventures with the branches and roots. His dirty clothes and torn pajamas collaborated with the fact; yet, Arthur realized hours later that he never told him why his mind was not at peace. Arthur tested Gaius' excuse twice more before realizing that Gaius was not aware of Merlin’s whereabouts most of the time and just came up with the tavern excuse for his peace of mind. In the third year of their association, he stopped believing that Merlin went to the taverns; Merlin was not a drunkard and preferred not to drink. He only drank when he was with the knights or Arthur. 

Arthur noticed the change in his manservant's interaction with his knights and nobles two years earlier. It was a gradual process. Arthur cannot say when things started to change. Merlin always went out on hunts and patrol with him. In the first year, the knights were callous and mostly ignored Merlin. Some dumped their duties on the only servant available and others took advantage of his kind nature and passed on a large burden on him. Merlin never complained and smilingly obliged them. He mostly sat on the outskirts of the group, away from the fire. He was not included in their jokes and he was left behind when they went for baths or were enjoying themselves. Some of the knights were cruel and tended to eat more and leave little food for Merlin. 

Overtime, Merlin won over some of them, mostly the younger and friendlier ones who did not expect to become lords and have responsibilities in the future and thus could afford to befriend a servant. He was included in their activities. Some asked him to join their strolls while others asked him to join their duties. Some started to take him along for baths while others dragged him closer to the fire and sat with him. 

Then about two years later, Arthur noticed that all his knights were more respectable towards Merlin. They helped him in all his duties. They shared his work and competed to reduce Merlin’s workload. For the first time when he noticed Sir Hector, the eldest and king’s favorite knight, carrying firewood to reduce Merlin’s burden, he was baffled. He thought the knights were playing a practical joke on Merlin and as Merlin was benefitting from it, neither did he not intercede nor did he try to find the actual source of the joke. However, he later realized that it was a common trend. The knights were helping Merlin more often even in the citadel. They were leaving a larger portion of food for Merlin. Almost all of them were more attentive to him. Arthur was happy that his servant was being included and treated better.

In the last two years, he never felt a need to pry. He never asked the knights for the reason behind their change in attitude. It was a positive change and he was happy. Now, however, the King expected an answer, and Arthur would have to give him most information. The knights were loyal to the King and their prince. Not all of them would collectively betray the royal family’s trust. Thus, the reason they change their attitude could provide some alternative non-sinister reasons which would curtail the king’s curiosity.

After the training, Arthur asked Sir Leon, the first knight, to join him. Arthur took him to his office.

“Leon, why are my knights so friendly towards Merlin? Why are they so attentive that they can be found helping a manservant or other servants around the citadel? What led to this change in behavior?”

“My lord, the Knights are being chivalrous.”

“No, Leon. I know these men for many years and the changes started in the last two years. I need to know what happened as I have to report the cause for these changes to the King.”

Leon bowed his head, “My lord, I am not sure. There are some rumors but it would be best if we hear the stories directly from the source. I never verified those rumors. There was no reason as they resulted in welcome changes in the men.”

Arthur shook his head in agreement, “That would be wise. So, who are these rumors about?”

Leon immediately said, “The first rumor was about Sir Caradoc.” He then went ahead to summarize a story that shocked Arthur. He did not expect it. At Arthur’s nod, he turned to the door, “I would call him.”

Ten minutes later, Leon returned with Sir Caradoc.

“My lord, you wanted to see me?” Sir Caradoc queried.

“Yes, Caradoc. There were a few rumors about you and we want to hear the truth behind them.”

“I would gladly answer any questions you have.”

“Did you hit Merlin?”

Caradoc shamefully looked down and nodded. Arthur was getting angry. His knights had been malevolent to Merlin. Merlin never complained and Arthur was not sure why. Arthur controlled the knights and he exected any mistreatment of the knights to be reported to him. He was shocked that even Merlin did not trust him enough to bring the complaint to him. 

Caradoc did not look up, “Sire, when the knights join the potentials at Camelot, they are hotheaded. Most of us are the son of lords and ruled over our servants and castles. When I entered Camelot citadel with my men on the first day, it was late at night and we were tired. I saw a servant rushing and asked him to assist us. He told me to go to the central courtyard and then rushed off. Then I saw the same servant the next day in the town. He was joking with a few men. I remembered my embarrassment from the night before and confronted him. He was polite but not submissive. He did not apologize and in the end, I stuck him. He fell on the ground. He got up and left. He turned his back to me and left. I was getting angrier but I had to buy the essentials, you know the bedding and other things a knight must buy on the first day to settle in.”

Arthur was angry but he knew Caradoc had changed. He had seen Caradoc assisting Merlin with his work. So, he gave Caradoc permission to continue. A subtle nod to indicate he understood.

Caradoc took a long breath and quickly said, “My luck ran out that day. Nothing much happened that day but from the next day, bad luck started following me. While the other knights were eating warm food, my plate was cold and sometimes burnt. The cleaning ladies barely cleaned my clothes. My clothes were washed but half-heartedly, the dirt and grease patches were still there even when they returned my clothes five days later while the other knights received the clothes within three days. More often than naught they ended up misplacing my clothes. I started cleaning my clothes. When the barracks were cleaned, my bed was ignored; no one changed the old bedclothes. There was always some dirt under my bed. On feasts, I was served concentrated ale regardless of which servant was serving me. When we returned from patrol, ominously they were always one stable hand short and those stable boys always took charge of other knight’s horses leaving me to deal with my horse. Even the stable of my horse was rarely cleaned. So, you can imagine, if there was something for which I was dependent on others, I would receive the worst service, and if possible, my work would be ignored.”

The knight took another sigh, “I complained to the other knights. I shouted at the servants. The more I shouted and mistreated them, the worse service I got. Things got so bad that I was doing all my chores. I did not have any time for social interaction or goofing off. After three months, I was ready to quit.”

The prince looked at him bewildered. A knight was ready to quit because of the ill-treatment from the servants. Caradoc softly said, “Before I could approach you with my decision, Sir Gwaine took pity on me. He took me to a tavern. He glared at me for a minute and then inquired, ‘Caradoc, do you know why you are singled by the servants.’ I shook my head. He laughed and said, ‘Merlin always said that the knight potentials are thick. Why do you think all the servants are mistreating you? Did you by any chance mistreat a servant?’ I looked at him confusedly and then nodded, ‘Merlin. I slapped him on my first day here.’ Gwaine glared at me and then asked, ‘So, you know how to remove your clouds of bad luck. Why have you not apologized yet.’ Then it struck me. I was being mistreated as I was a bully. When Gwaine saw I understood, he sternly said, ‘As you stuck him in public, only a public apology would count.’ After that Gwaine got busy drinking and ignored me for most of the night. I was unsure but I was broken. The servants had reduced me to the crying stage. The next morning, I rushed to the market and bought warm gloves. I was sure Merlin would follow you to the training ground. I waited for the two of you. When you were busy sparing, I approached Merlin, apologized, and gave him the gift. Many knights were sniggering and there were a few servants who were helping the knights. That night, after three months of cold food, my plate and food were warm.”

Arthur and Leon were looking at Caradoc with shock, when the prince said, “Really!”

“Yes, Sire. Since then, I have not been rude to any servant in Camelot. I respect the servants. They serve us and have the ability to make our lives miserable. When young Kay and Lucan, were down on their luck and were close to breaking, I did for them what Gwaine did for me.”

Arthur hurriedly asked, “Did Kay and Lucan also hit Merlin?”

Caradoc looked up for the first time and gave a subtle nod.

Arthur hissed, “It seems you were punished for your action. You may leave and send Kay and Lucan immediately.”

Once Caradoc left, Arthur curiously asked, “How many of my knights have bullied Merlin?”

Leon shook his head, “I don’t know. Kay and Lucan were not on my list.”

Arthur angrily looked away. Merlin never told him any of this and he was angry at Merlin as much as he was angry at the knights.

Kay approached the prince’s office a few minutes before Lucan.

Arthur hissed, “I have heard rumors that you bullied my manservant.”

Kay shyly said, “My lord, we are sorry. We thought he was not paying proper respect to you. Lucan, Timothy, and I wanted to teach him a lesson. We wanted him to realize that he was just a servant and he should know his worth. The three of us cornered him and beat him for fifteen minutes. We used legs, knuckles, and hands. Timothy even used his belt. We are sorry.”

Arthur angrily slammed his hand on the table. Why did Merlin never tell him? How does he not know that Merlin was beaten this badly?

Lucan subserviently said, “Sire, we are sorry. Timothy, Kay, and I thought we were defending you and teaching your manservant proper values. We did it for the best of reasons. Our approach was wrong but we did it for you.”

Arthur angrily shouted, “Did I ask you to teach a lesson to my manservant? Who put you in charge? When did this happen?”

Lucan softly said, “A week after we came to the citadel.”

Arthur huffed, “That’s about three years ago. If I had known and if Merlin had complained, I would not have knighted you.”

The two knights looked down ashamedly.

“Tell us what happened then?” Leon softly interjected.

“At first nothing happened. Merlin was able to stay away for a week. Then we cornered him when Arthur sent him to clean the stables. The three of us locked the stable and showed him where he belonged; in the shit. We may have pissed on him and made him eat shit,” Kay whispered.

Arthur was getting angrier. His hands were tightly wrapped around his sword.

“After beating some sense into him we left. We warned him not to tell anyone. You never reprimanded us. Yet, the entire castle turned on us that day. Our clothes smelled of piss and our boots were often lined with shit. We even found horse shit in our food. Once during a feast, our glasses were filled with piss rather than alcohol and we could not even find the servants responsible. Timothy withdrew after a month and a half. Within two months we were social pariah amongst the knights. Anyone found associating and befriending us would be served the same piss and shit filled food. We knew it had to do with Merlin and we tried to beat the revenge out of him. In the end, we would have resigned had Caradoc not ordered us to apologize. It took a bit more groveling than Caradoc suggested and we had to buy winter cloaks for eight servants which cost us three months' salary but we were forgiven. All the presents were publicly given. The knights made fun but we were glad that the nightmare was over. We have learned our lesson sire. The servants of Camelot are not to be trifled with. Now we can proudly say that we have befriended many servants. Over the years, we have stopped many knights from making the fatal mistake of bullying servants.”

Arthur’s anger had evaporated when he heard the tale of their misery. He did not remember Timothy but he was happy that a weak-willed person was sifted out. Arthur calmly said, “I think you paid for your bullying. Do you know any other knight who was needlessly aggressive to a servant?”

Sir Lucan softly said, “There are many knights and knight potentials who learned their lesson the hard way. There is only one other knight who mistreated your manservant and paid the price.”

“Who is he?”

“Sir Hector” all three knights in the room chorused.

Arthur sat shock still. Sir Hector who Arthur had seen helping Merlin with firewood. Sir Hector who was the King’s favorite knight. Arthur snarled, “You may leave but please send Sir Hector.”

Once the two knights left, Leon hurriedly said, “Arthur, I did not know that they were beating Merlin.”

Arthur turned his back to the knight and mumbled, “Neither did I.”

Another quarter-hour later, Sir Hector knocked on his door.

“Sire.”

Arthur harshly asked, “Sir Hector, come and sit. I have an urgent question for you, did you hit my manservant?”

As opposed to Lucan, Kay, and Caradoc who looked and sounded apologetic, Hector laughed, “Sire, I made a mistake a little over two years ago. I paid a heavy price for it. It was a humbling experience and I have changed for the better. If your servant was like others, you might have to admonish me but he gave as good as he got or even worse. He might not be a knight but he has the heart of a knight and has more power than even I do. I fail to see why you would take offense two years later.”

Arthur sighed, “I am in charge of the knights. Today, I learned that my knights were bullying my manservant and I did not even know about it. It is humiliating as my manservant does not trust me to handle his problems.”

Hector thoughtfully replied, “Maybe Merlin does not need your protection. Going to you would have been one solution but it would have worked if the servant in question could not extract his or her revenge. In the last few years, especially since Merlin joined us, Camelot’s servants have evolved. They do not take kindly to unjust treatment by the hands of nobles and knights. While you might have reproached me for my behavior to your manservant, the lesson Merlin taught me was far deeper and it changed my outlook and correspondingly the way I interacted with the servants, all servants. His solution was more aggressive and yielded better results.”

“Still, he should have trusted me.” Arthur scornfully said.

“That he should.” Hector quickly agreed. The question was of trust and it was drilled in every knight to trust their superiors.

“Can you recount what happened? Why did you find it necessary to hit my manservant?”

Hector boomed, “You would not let a knight die with his respect. Well. I had a bad day and let us say Merlin was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was looking for someone to relieve some pressure and your manservant cum training dummy walked into the training area with a few other servants. I asked him to par with me and he refused. He did not shy away and continued to inspect the training equipment. I was the eldest knight and the king’s favorite and some might even go as far as suggesting that I was the king’s friend or confident and there was this servant who had refused my order and was not cowering or shying away. He had the gall to remain there and act as if disobeying the knight was nothing. I stomped over to him and punched him in his face. His nose started to bleed and later Gaius said that I had broken his nose and if my punch was at a slightly different angle, I would have crushed his jawbone rather than just opening a gash in his cheeks.”

Hector took a deep sigh as if he was trying to remember a sad event, something he wanted to forget, “Unlike the others, the servants could not be as bold with me. I had power and could see them fired. They were giving me a hard time but it was manageable. It was when I went to lower town to buy necessities that I learned something was off. I was overspending consistently. My salary barely covered the usual items I consumed in a month and I started digging into my savings. For four months, I assumed the prices had increased and our salaries would be increased to reflect it. When the quarter ended and our salary did not increase, I started complaining. No one argued as everyone wanted an increase in salary until Sir Gwaine protested and told me that I was getting vulgar and greedy in my old age why else would I be complaining about money all the time. I had never been accused of being greedy. I made some inquiries and found that I was the only one who was dipping into my savings. So, I took a few knights with me when I next went shopping. When they bought things, they were charged regular prices but when I wanted to buy the same things, the shopkeeper demanded double the prices. If we went into the shop together, the others were also charged double the money. Not one shop but almost every shop in lower town was differentiating against me. I was at a loss. I could not even complain to the king as it was so widespread, the king would not have been able to do anything. I once again bought the regular need goods at double the price and dipped into my savings. The other knights refused to go shopping with me. If this trend continued, soon I would not have been able to afford even half the goods I needed. I knew I had to make restitution but to whom. Who was the source of my bad luck?”

Arthur and Leon were looking at the knight horrified.

“Yes, your looks suggest you understand what happened. It took me another month to find someone in Lowertown who was willing to speak up. He was mumbling while he served me and when I concentrated, I heard him say that knights like me who did not care for the people did not deserve to be served. Only if they had the power, I would be barred from the shops in the lower town. I was horrified. I pressed the issue and he told me that a knight of no dignity who would punch an unarmed servant deserved to be humiliated. He was an old man and did not pull his punches but it took me another day before I realized that the source of my ill-fortune was the prince’s manservant. I went to him quietly and ordered him to correct things. Nothing happened. I was getting subpar service and the merchants were differentiating against me. The next time I beat the hell out of him when I ordered him to correct the issue. The prices tripled. Half the shops claimed they were out of stock and the little left was already sold. I was getting miserable. I tried a quiet apology, nothing happened. Then someone told me the story of Caradoc and others who had been on the bad side of servants. I took the remaining of my savings and went out to buy a thick winter cloak, it cost me a lot more than it was worth. Then I publicly gave it to Merlin and apologized to him for my attitude. We were in the lower town and I could see many merchants nodding in appreciation. By the next day, I was once again getting superior service and next month I received a slight discount on my purchases. Without raising his hand or his voice, Merlin bought me to my knees. I don’t know if it was the power wielded by your manservant or by all the servants in the castle but I do know that I would never touch a servant again.”

As soon as Hector finished the story, Arthur asked, “Are you sure it is my manservant we are talking about? He is a bumbling fool and doesn’t have that type of power.”

Hector heartily laughed, “Oh, he does. After my experience, I started observing him. The knights, the nobles, and the royals forget that the peasants exist. These peasants are people who have small problems. We are self-assured and mostly ignore them until we are heroically defending their villages. I found out that Merlin was friendly with everyone and helped wherever he could. I started observing his interaction with the servants. I realized that the servants were bringing their problems to Merlin. I thought because he was a physician’s apprentice, he was helping them but then he helped them in everything. If a servant wanted a night off, he would not go to Moris or Lord Mathias, he would go to Merlin. Merlin would arrange that the servant had his free time when he or she desired it. If they had monetary issues, they would tell Merlin and he would arrange help for them. Even the people from the lower town would seek out Merlin and tell their problems to him. Why would the baker think that her broken roof was Merlin’s concern? I noticed that people came to the castle to tell Merlin their worries and problem, ‘My wall fell during the rain, my horse died, my inventory broke and so on.’ Why come to the castle to tell your worries to a manservant and not seek an audience with the prince or the king?”

“Hector,” the prince said in a daze, “Are you sure?”

“I followed your servant for three months. I know things that maybe you don’t even know. I paid the price for underestimating him. I was not going to let it go.”

“How was Merlin helping those people?” Leon voiced the follow-up question.

“I am not sure but soon after the baker told Merlin about his broken wall, I saw Merlin going out of the castle with a few other servants. I followed him. The servants fixed the baker's wall. A group of peasants from lower town fixed the wall of the house. One way or another, the penniless manservant found ways to support the merchants and people from the town. So, he has their loyalty. He wields the power; I have no doubt left. It was easier to befriend him.”

Arthur sighed. There was much more to Merlin than he even thought.

“Why do my lords and nobles pay homage to Merlin?”

Hector smiled, “You noticed? I noticed after my misfortune. I don’t know the exact reason but I am sure Lord Cuthbert and Lady Solaris can give you better answers. They would at least tell you who was the first amongst the nobles to be taught a lesson.” Hector mischievously smiled.

Misery indeed likes company; Hector would prefer if others faced similar misfortune. Arthur thanked him for telling the tale and let him go.

Leon was thoughtful, “Sire, I think you should hear the tales of Sir Dagonet and Sir Brunor. It could provide completeness.”

Arthur nodded. Neither Sir Dagonet nor Sir Brunor hit Merlin but their targets were other servants in the castle. They told stories of similar misery after mistreating the servants.

“Sire, I don’t know how but during those days we were assigned to every patrol. During the days between the patrol, our name would be on top of the list of any demanding or demeaning work We guessed you were also punishing us for our misdeeds.”

Arthur pondered over their statement till late at night. He was sure Merlin never had a bad word to say about anyone. He never complained about Sir Dagonet or Sir Brunor and never badmouthed them then how come they were assigned to five days of patrol duties consistently. Arthur was one hundred percent sure that the patrol roster was never sabotaged. He was the only one who had access to it and Merlin never touched it.

He took out the roster and skimmed to the time when Sir Dagonet was sent on extra patrol duties. He noticed that he had placed Sir Dagonet as a replacement on the first patrol due to Sir Gwaine's knee injury and then the next one as Sir Feirifez had a cough. On the next patrol, Sir Gaheris had a skin infection and needed a replacement and the last one because Sir Galahad had a date. When Arthur saw the word date written in his handwriting, he knew that Merlin had manipulated him. There was no other reason to put Sir Dagonet on an extra shift just to give Sir Ghalad the time to prepare for his date. He skimmed through the patrol roster and saw that he had made other such replacements. He had given his knights time off to go on dates or pursue some lady. However, they were equitable distributions, giving his knights time off and then putting them as a replacement for others. But when did he started considering the wishes of the knights while making the patrol roster? Such insignificant things should not be considered.

During the week, he noticed how Merlin talked about his knights. He raved about Morholt’s sick mother and how worried he was. Every day of the week, he updated Arthur about the state of Morholt’s mother. He told stories about the great leaders who supported their men while their families were in crisis. Arthur had remembered the week’s patrol duty list and knew Morholt was on the list.

Merlin also shared his experience with Sir Tor and how worried he was about the education of his children. He talked for hours about how Tor was a good father and wanted the best for his children. He talked about how fathers should encourage their children to study. He talked about good bosses and bad superiors. Essentially now Arthur had understood Merlin’s tactics he knew Merlin wanted him to give Tor a leave of absence.

He ranted about unfair bosses and then casually pointed out that Sir Balin was given an unfair number of duties because of a lack of material wealth.

In his way, Merlin was influencing Arthur, and Arthur for the first time was unsure about his servant’s loyalty.

At the end of the week, he called Hector, Dagonet, Brunor, Gwaine, Galahad, Tor, Morholt, Balin, Lionel, and Leon to his office. When all the knights had settled down, Arthur inquired, “Lionel, did you go on a date with Lady Jamina last week.”

“Yes, Sire. Thank you for rescheduling my patrol duty for the week otherwise I would have missed her visit.”

Hector boomed, “The poor chap had been singing songs about the lady for a year and was most disheartened when he found out that her visit overlapped his patrol duty. He was beyond excited when you sent him as a replacement on the longer patrol a week earlier so he could be in town when the lady came. It is not just Lionel but all your men are grateful. They know how you support them in their love life and family crisis. The King and the other administrators were not so benevolent. Your men love you because you not only care about their physical health but emotional and mental health. Very few leaders are so empathic.”

Ghalad nodded, “Sire, you postponed my patrol duty for a month when my first child was born. My wife was weak and we did not have much support. I am forevermore in your debt. We may be the King’s knight but our heart’s allegiance is to you first.”

Leon bobbed his head in agreement, “The first time, I received your patrol roster after my promotion, I was shocked. We never thought you ever paid heed to our discussions. You never wanted to be burdened by our problems but your patrol roster made clear indications why a knight was not suitable for the given patrol and then you were equitable and were never unjust. I promised to lay down my life and always to faithfully serve you.”

Arthur ignored the comments and turned to Morholt, “How is your mother?”

“She is not doing well. I just fear that when I return from my patrol, she will not be here anymore.”

Arthur nodded. He knew this. Had Merlin not said the same thing in many more ways over the last week.

He turned to Tor, “You want a leave?”

Tor looked surprised and then nodded, “Yes, Sire. I want to go back and meet my children. I want to commission someone to teach them but I cannot until I interview him. I just did not know how to discuss it with you. Most knights are unmarried and don’t have such concerns until they have established themselves. I was married at a younger age and was blessed with a son when I was a wee lad. I love the boy and hope he would join your knights while I am still in service. There would be no better ruler for him to serve under. I would be a proud father when he lays his life for you, my prince.”

Arthur was shocked. He was here to discuss a problem. He wanted to tell them how his manservant has manipulated him and discuss strategies of how such weak reasons were never incorporated in deciding patrol duty and here his knights were praising him for his efforts to help out his knights and declaring their loyalty and love to him. 

“But I was not just to Diagonet or Brunor. I overtaxed them,” Arthur ruefully commented on their love declarations.

Brunor shook his head, “My lord, once we had learned our lesson you gave us many patrol free weeks. You were equitable to a fault. I had never been overtaxed by you, sire. You were always so caring; it is not surprising why your knights love you.”

Arthur got angry and shouted, “I did not consciously do it. I did not punish you. I did not send you on the extra patrols, I did not even realize it. Nor did I consciously give time to any of you for your family or your love lives. My father taught me that such concerns should not be accounted for when the lives of many were concerned. The royal family could not do justice to all and thus should try to hold to the schedule. Then my stupid manservant came about with different ideas. For the last whole week, I have heard his stories about the importance of family and how Morholt should stay with his mother until she gets better. How most fathers are ignoring their children and Tor is an exceptional father to dream about his son’s future. He was manipulating me and after my last week's discussion with Dagonet and Brunor, I found evidence in the patrol roster. I am angry at him and angrier at myself for being led by the noose by a simpleton.”

Hector had no propriety as he started laughing, “The simpleton! Sire, you manservant is anything but simple. He bought your men closer to you. Even with today’s admission, we do not think little of you. Every man needs a teacher and friend. You might not think it but Merlin is your friend and maybe a silent teacher. He taught you empathy. Did he change your roster or were you the one to assign replacements and reassign patrol duties? Sire, it came from your heart. He just told you what your knights were never able to say. He showed you that your men were not just training dummies or heartless killers but humans. He bought to you their problems and I am sure none of the knights asked him to do so.”

Morholt quickly said, “I never talked to Merlin about my mother. He came to visit with Gaius and said a few encouraging words to me.”

Tor submissively said, “I was with Gwaine and Merlin and I was drunk. I may have offloaded my worries on them but I never asked his help.”

Lionel boldly said, “Everyone knew how distressed I was. I never went to Merlin to tell him my problem. He heard it during the hunting party you led a week earlier. He was sitting with us while I ranted about the unfairness of it all.”

Ghalad summarised it, “My lord, I don’t believe any of the knights felt the need to approach a servant. He just took the initiative to bridge the gap between you and us. We are humans and we shared our problems but rarely with you. We just never thought that Merlin would report our problems to you and then help change your opinion. None of the knights are at fault.”

Sir Diagonet quietly said, “Neither is Merlin. He was a servant and he helped bring your knights closer to you. We thought Leon was reporting our worries to you and you were consciously looking out for us but this changes nothing. Merlin reported to you and consciously or unconsciously you helped us when we needed it. You have our gratitude.”

All the knights were nodding. Arthur snickered, “I am very angry at Merlin and I would deal with him. Morholt you are relieved from patrol duty until your mother gets better. Tor you can have a month off but both of you will be doing extra patrol duties to make up for this time. Leon, ensure that Balin is not put under extra pressure or handed out extra duties. He is one of us and should be treated fairly.”

When Brunor and Hector seemed like they would protest, Arthur snarled, “Merlin is my manservant and he would answer for his crimes. I have learned a lesson and you have verified in your words that my knights are humans and have physical, emotional, and psychological needs. I will do my best to fulfill them but I will not allow anyone to manipulate me.”

The knights bowed their heads in submission and drifted out of the room. Arthur sat down on his chair. Over the last week, he had realized that Merlin’s banter which may have seemed undirected and pointless was indeed manipulation. While Merlin never said anything to the effect, Arthur did what Merlin wanted. He punished Brunor and Daigonet under the manipulation. A prince cannot be a puppet and if Arthur did not resolve this issue it may lead to a soaring of Merlin’s and Arthur’s relation. Arthur would never be able to trust Merlin again and would start second-guessing his own decisions just to be sure they were not manipulated. 

Merlin was a wild card. The deeper he dug; the worse things got. He would have to talk to Merlin before their friendship died in a fire of suspicions. However, he would spend more time trying to unveil the true nature of his friend and reveal any sinister intentions before he would question Merlin about his objectives.

\------------------

Arthur’s next targets were the lord and ladies of the court. He invited Lord Cuthbert for lunch. After lunch, he casually asked, “I heard you had some falling out with my manservant.”

He looked confused for some time and then shook his head, “No, Sire. I am on very good terms with Merlin.”

Arthur eagerly asked, “I did not know you were on a friendly basis with my manservant.”

The lord was stunned for a few minutes and then quietly said, “Sire, servants gain power from their masters. A Prince’s manservant is an important ally.”

“Are you on good terms with the King’s manservant as well.”

Lord Cuthbert shook his head, “No, Sire. The King’s manservant, like a true servant, is seldom seen and never heard. Your manservant, on the other hand, is a force of nature.”

“So, you mean he sells my information to lords like you.”

“Sire, I never asked him anything about you and he never revealed anything. It is a well-known fact among the lord and ladies that Merlin would never talk about you. The young ladies of the court would be perpetually against him due to his close mouthedness. It is only that he is very powerful that he can keep his silence and attitude and not feel the retribution.”

“Merlin is powerful, I do not believe it.”

“Sire, that is the beauty of all this. Those who suffer the consequences after underestimating him can never openly acknowledge they were beaten by a servant. They talk about it in whispers and rumors spread but most of those rumors are true.”

“So, Merlin is powerful, he derives his power from me and he never sells information about me?” Arthur asked unbelievingly.

“My lord, he is the prince’s manservant which means he always at the forefront. He attends the council; he is present as the feasts and he can be approached. His visibility comes from you. The King’s manservant, whose name I don’t know, is also visible but no one needs to meet him, and thus that visibility is lost on him. Merlin is the leader of the servants; a position that comes from him being your manservant. If he was a stable boy, it would have been much more difficult for him to connect and then lead the servants. So, yes he derives his power form you but not in the way you think.”

Arthur nodded. Merlin was benefitting from his position but according to Lord Cuthbert, he was not selling Arthur or his secrets.

“You call him the leader of servants, how is that possible. I would think that Moris, the King’s manservant, or Lord Mathias would hold that position.”

“The King’s manservant has no backbone and is only concerned with his duty and his gains. He is like a loyal dog and is usually happy with the bones the King feed. Merlin may be a dog but he is also the King of dogs. He does not accept his position of servitude and nor does he accept the mistreatment of his fellow dogs. Thus, he started a howling which caught momentum and the other dogs started joining him to the effect that 90% of the servants are with him currently. Lord Mathias is in charge of them, they are answerable to him but he is not their leader. He doesn't look after their welfare and thus only occupies a regulatory position where he handles the complaints against servants, their hiring, and the distribution of their salaries. He does not hold the servant's trust or loyalty. He is not their leader.”

“Why do the servants need a leader?”

“Sire, I think it would be best if a servant answers that question. I have a few hypotheses but a servant can give you concrete reasons.”

Arthur nodded in agreement and then continued, “I would like to know how you came to regard my manservant as an ally?”

The poor lord looked uneasy for a few minutes and then sighed, “It happened a long time ago, maybe three years. I came to the court for the first time and you offered to share your manservant with me. I had newly inherited my estate and was drunk on power. I was a hard taskmaster. I made him work to bone and he smilingly obliged me. Everything was okay until one day, I slapped him for not completing his work. I did not know that he was your manservant along with Gaius apprentice. I just thought he was a lazy sod and wanted to teach him a lesson. I heated the poker and put it on his shoulder. I told him whenever he saw the mark, he would know that he was a failure. I was pleased with my effort and dismissed him.”

Arthur was fuming in anger. Lord Cuthbert softly said, “Let me finish the story before you decide to take your revenge. I have paid the price numerous times for my thoughtlessness.”

Arthur slighted tilted his head with the bully lord took as a sign of acceptance and continued, “For two days, life continued as if nothing was wrong. Then while I was strolling in the garden, one of the servants who was cutting the wood lost control and a piece of wood flew from under his wood and hit my head. Gaius said it was only a minor injury. A day later, when I was climbing the stairs, a servant lost control of the bathtub and water. Not only the dirty bathwater soaked me but the tub made me tumble and I fell down six stairs and got a sprain in my foot. I was on bed rest for four days and Lord Mathias arranged for a permanent manservant. On the fifth day when I got out of bed, I stepped on warm coal which burned my feet. My new incompetent manservant had placed the fire where my shoes used to be. Once again, I was taken to Gaius and he put some salves on my soles.”

Arthur was now feeling sorry for the lord. He took off his shoes and Arthur could see the burn marks on the bottom of his feet.

“My manservant was changed. I spent another month confined to my room. One night I woke up and saw that the fire was dying. My manservant was not in the antechamber so I decided to put some more wood and stroke the fire. I put the wood and then picked up the poker to stroke the fire. Unfortunately, I picked up the poker from the wrong end and it burnt through my flesh.”

He showed Arthur his hand which had a clear brand from poker burn.

“I laid there for another three hours. I was screaming in pain but no one came to aid me. Three hours later, my manservant appeared and took me to Gaius. Things did not improve for me. While I was in the courtyard, someone threw a large garbage bag that hit me on the head. I would say, in a series of unfortunate events, I spent six months in bed and pain. I had been burned seven times and lost all my worldly possessions to fire once. I was afraid to step out of my room and even my room was not safe. I tried to return to my estate but while I was on the road, someone threw fire on my group. My horse and I were seriously injured and returned to the castle.”

Arthur was now listening to the story with rapt attention, all signs of anger left him. He was feeling sorry for the man.

“It took a near accident when a servant lost control of his ax that almost amputated my leg that I realized that servants were conspiring against me. It took me a week to link all my misery to the day when I burned Merlin. I had branded him once but the servants have branded every part of my body and if things continued, I would lose an arm or a leg. I went to Merlin and he ran away from me. He was very elusive and it took me two weeks to catch him. I cornered him after a council session and threatened that if he did not hear me out, I would grumble in front of him in the council room. Merlin conceded and took me to the west wing which is usually empty.”

Arthur was now excitedly listening. He had no idea how Merlin would deal with a lord who had physically hurt him.

“I apologized for my behavior. He said that it was no concern and he did not think about it. He also said that as I was a lord I should learn to apologize properly and left.”

Lord Cuthbert shuddered before he continued, “I returned to my room and there was a feast next day. My manservant placed a plate in front of me. It was pheasant and I love pheasant so I immediately took a bite. The food burned my mouth. My food was extra hot. While others ate, I waited for my food to cool down. I took another bite and that too burned my mouth. The servant picked up the dish and took it away. That night, I decided on another strategy. I went to the lower town and bought some very expensive gifts. I spent seven hundred coins on the gifts. The next morning, I handed those gifts to Merlin in front of the court and apologized for my behavior. He was courteous and boldly said that I was a real noble who spent so much money on apologizing for burning a servant. The series of unfortunate events ended and I was thankful.”

Arthur was lost. His servant exacted the revenge, yet exonerated the noble.

“Since then, I had been courteous to servants. I always keep one eye on Merlin. I also try to remain on his good side and always give him small tokens. A summer tunic, a pair of warm socks, and other small things. I know he shares most of those tokens with other servants. I have seen him pass my gifts onwards and that is how I know he is the leader. He takes care of them and they follow him. His words created a frenzy in the lords and they wanted to know why I burned a servant. For the smart and intuitive nobles, Merlin had crossed the first ladder. In their perception, he was no more a weak servant and they knew if they retaliated against him or even harmed him, they would suffer.”

Arthur sighed, “I don’t know what to say to you. I loaned you my manservant and you saw it fit to brand him. If my manservant had told me about the incident, I would have either killed you or manipulated the circumstances that you would have lost your position. Fortunately for you, Merlin exacted his revenge and did not include me in his petty schemes. Do you know any other lords who have suffered similarly?”

“Many. Lords and knights were taught lessons. Camelot’s servants were evolving and the Knights and nobles had to follow or pay the price. There are some whom I suggest you stay away from. They are full of anger but they cannot reveal anything. Lady Solaris will tell you a tale unlike any other and Lady Tehmina will confess some secrets in strict confidentiality. Lord Accolon and Lady Evaine will report similar experiences to mine. Lord Goloris and his son Regum’s story is also extraordinary. There are a few others but they were cocky and ignored our advice. Your knights, Edern and Gwyn, are the latest two who chose to ignore the advice of their seniors and paid a heavy price.”

Arthur sighed. There were so many people. This was going to take more time than he expected.

\----------

The meeting with Lady Solaris shook Arthur to the core.

“My lady, I would like to know about your opinion about my manservant.”

“Sire, I suggest you let bygones be bygones. My husband made a mistake and paid a price. I hope others are more careful but the talk of the town is not supportive of it.”

“My dear lady, I don’t understand. I am under command from the king and need to find some answers.”

“Then what you should know is that my husband was a womanizer. Our marriage was just in name and he found his pleasure elsewhere. He preyed on servants and was not above committing rape. When we came to Camelot, three years ago, he took liberties with two or three girls. I don’t know how but Merlin caught his attention. My husband preferred the fairer sex but Merlin has charm and the confidence he oozes was like the most powerful illicit drugs to my husband. He made it abundantly clear that he wanted Merlin. He propositioned to Merlin but was turned down. He bribed Lord Mathias and steward arranged with you to share Merlin with my husband for a few days. My husband tried the noble approach the first night but on the second day when you were on a patrol, he tried to rape Merlin. I don’t know the details but I know that Merlin castrated him. Merlin and Gaius saved my husband’s life and Gaius told the court my husband was sick. I knew what had happened and I was happy. He had been given his due. He committed suicide a few months later. Since that day, the servants have grown bolder. The lords cannot declare that they have lost their manhood. I know of seven eunuchs who serve in Camelot and a few more who had fled or died. But currently, the punishment for rape or trying to rape a servant or a peasant is castration. This is why I am trying so hard to get a ruling against rape that favors the weak. Such a ruling would protect the young lords and nobles who come to Camelot rather than paying an extremely high price for one night of pleasure.”

Arthur was stunned. He never thought that the lords and knights would get involved in such heinous actions. He was speechless for a few minutes and then softly asked, “How is your relationship with my manservant.”

“He is a friend. By castrating my husband, he did me a favor. I approached him and asked for his forgiveness and gave him two hundred coins for his troubles. I often share my ideas with him. He provides me with the information which I use to argue my point in the court. I say XYZ servant was raped but never name the lord. Then I subtly let the lord know that I know about their condition and win over their support. Currently, some of my biggest supporters are those who have paid the ultimate price. Gaius and Merlin have improved and can heal 99% of the castration cases and get them out of bed within five days.”

Arthur was shaking in horror, “Do you agree with their way?”

“Sometimes, the only way to defend is to attack.”

\--------------------- 

Lady Tehmina when pressured confessed that her husband was castrated after he raped a serving girl. He left the court but Lady Tehmina stayed behind as she did not see any benefit of remaining with her husband who would not be able to sire any child. She was looking for a second husband as she wished for children and Lord John, her eunuch husband, would not be able to procreate.

\-------------- 

Arthur called Edern and Gwyn, the two knights from Cambridge. They were brothers and Arthur’s cousins and were in line for the throne if Arthur died without an issue. The two were very young. Edern was seventeen and Gwyn was almost sixteen. In Cambridge, they were treated like royalty and had some difficult time settling in Camelot. A few months earlier, they were given forced bed rest and spent three weeks alone and had never been the same after that sickness.

“Edern, Gwyn, I have heard some rumors.”

The two knights cringed and looked down shamefacedly.

Edern snarled, “You called us to rub it in our face. We were over-indulged in Cambridge and everyone bowed to our wishes. We made a mistake and have since been punished. I don’t see the reason for this meeting. It will not gain us anything except further our embarrassment.”

“But I want to know the sequence of events.”

Gwyn hissed, “Are you going to punish them? Can you punish them? I am not sure and thus I see no reason to continue debasing ourselves to fulfill your curiosity. Know this that next time a knight potential comes to Camelot, tell him that those who rape servants are castrated and there is no recourse. I hope others will not pay the ultimate price for a night of fun.”

Arthur shouted, “I can try to get justice for you.”

Edern hissed, “At what cost? We will be publicly humiliated and the worst that will happen to them is some deduction in salary. One cannot fight when all the servants and numerous peasants from lower town were involved. We should let this die and hope for quiet and honorable deaths on the battlefield soon. For an orgy that did not last properly through the night, we would never be able to enjoy the pleasures of the fairer sex again. We cannot look into the eyes of any servant as they know our worst secret. Our house will die with us. There is no other punishment or justice you can get for us. Forget you ever heard any rumor. What has happened cannot be undone and we do not have the pull to take revenge while your manservant who is the biggest proponent of castration as justice for rape has support in all the ranks. The nobles and knights bow to him and he wields as much power as you do or more. Lady Solaris would destroy our reputation even if you can capture the four peasants who used their knives to destroy our lives. She is Merlin’s biggest supporter and some call Merlin her master. No, thank you. We do not wish to pursue.”

The two stood up left without another word and Arthur sat there flabbergasted with no idea how to reduce the suffering of his two knights.

\-------------

Lord Accolon had pushed a chambermaid down the stairs in his hurry to reach the courtroom. He admitted it was not an accident. She was burdened with laundry and was blocking his way. He did not want to wiggle out of the way, so he pushed. She fell and had to be carried to Gaius. Lord Accolon was shaking in terror when he said, “I fell from stairs six times and from my horse three times. One time I was standing in the balcony and someone pushed me and another time I was close to a window and was pushed. No one was blamed and all the servants had airtight alibis. How they achieved it, I don’t know. But they have put in me the fear of God, heights, and servants. In the end, I asked for forgiveness from the chambermaid, and my streak of bad luck ended. Now I try to help the servants rather than put hurdles in their way.”

\-------------

Lady Evaine had slapped her chambermaid and made her sleep in the cold. “Arthur, there was no change. No one glared at me. My chambermaid did not ask for an apology, neither did she resign. She would warm my bath and the temperature would be just perfect but when I entered it, it would be cold. By the end of my bath, I would be cold. The fire would burn throughout the night but no heat would reach me. My mattress felt heavier yet the cold penetrated it. I changed maid after maid but the results did not change. My nights were cold and restless. In November I realized that if things did not change, I would be found frozen to death soon. But what should I change?”

“I went to stay with Lady Iseult. We shared some body heat but, in the end, the nights were cold. Her fire became bright and lost its warmth. One day at dinner, Lady Iseult was complaining about the cold when her daughter commented that we had the wrath of the Gods on us. She said that the fire in the rest of the castle glowed and was effective. Lady Iseult asked me to leave the next day and I heard her delightedly telling someone that her fire was bright and warm again. No one else agreed to house me after that.”

“I was going mad. My body was aching and I was not able to sleep. I would have died. Then my tailor took pity on me. He offhandedly commented while leaving my chamber that it seemed I had angered the servants of the castle. I was shocked. I had already changed five maids and then I fired three more maids within the next week. Lady Solaris took pity on me and said that maybe I should apologize for my mistreatment of my servants. It took me a fortnight to find my first maid. While she worked in the castle, I had to track her down and then I gave her warm cloaks and sweaters before she accepted my apology. The heat returned to my fires. I thought it was sorcery and told the king so. When I told him the entire story, he laughed and said that the chambermaids were idiotic and they might have made a mistake in stocking the firewood. They placed Dirk wood which burned but gave no heat in my room. Since then, I have treated my servants better as they could kill me in vengeance and it would all be hushed over as a stupid mistake. The servants have the power to make our lives miserable. Even if I had caught on the fire issue before, I am sure they would have found other ways to punish me. In the last two years, every lord and lady of Camelot who had mistreated their servant was punished. After going through agony, they ended up apologizing. By honoring your manservant in the council room, the new lords and ladies are kind of declaring that they will treat the servants kindly.”

“What did Merlin had to do with any of this?”

“He is their leader. I have made it a habit to inform the newcomers of the changed rules in Camelot. Some ignore my advice and have the ire of the servants turned on them. They not only are punished but then have to humble themselves by apologizing apart from giving extremely expensive gifts to appease the servants. The nobles should learn that servants and peasants are humans and must be treated with respect.”

“Are there some lords or ladies who do not acknowledge Merlin?”

“Yes, Sire. Three months back Lord Kahedin refused to accept Merlin. In the last six months, there was Lord Madoc and Sir Vortigern.”

Arthur sat bolt upright. This could not be correct. How was it possible?

“But then you know the story of Lord Kahedin and must remember Sir Vortigern?”

Arthur nodded. How could he not? Lord Kahedin’s betrayal was shocking and had greatly angered the king. Arthur reflected and cringed. Lord Kahedin was one of King’s oldest friends. He and Lord Urein were the only two people apart from Morgana’s late father Golaris and Gaius who could be considered King’s friend or confidente. Lord Kahedin returned to court after seven years. He spent most of his time in the northern territories protecting Camelot from Saxons. The King was excited and welcomed his friend warmly. A month into his stay, an anonymous source tipped Sir Leon that Lord Kahedin’s manservant was carrying sensitive information from Camelot to Caerleon. Arthur and Leon themselves caught the servant and Caerleon’s messenger. It turned out that the manservant was handing over the map of the castle’s dungeons including a detailed summary of the guard's routine. King Caerleon of Caerleon had updated Kahedin about the war efforts. Arthur killed the two servants and hid their bodies. He did not tell anything to Kahedin and he believed that servant was working in cahoots with someone else and he wanted to find the hidden enemy. Three days before the full moon Sir Leon got another anonymous tip. Lord Kahedin was personally leaving the castle to meet the King of Caerleon and finalize the attack plans. Lord Kahedin had asked the King’s permission to go for a two-day hunt to a forest close to Caerleon. Arthur still did not believe him and thus he and Leon followed Kahedin’s hunt party. Arthur was not able to penetrate his camp but his doubt turned to conviction when Kahedin met Caerleon and the two spent hours alone in a tent. When two days later, Arthur’s spies reported that Caerleon’s army had started its march, Arthur told everything to the King. Uther immediately arrested every member of Lord Kahedin’s party. Lord Kahedin protested but folded under torture and confessed that he was offered the crown of Camelot by Caerleon and Saxons. The combined army would annihilate Uther’s forces in a surprise attack. As Camelot did not have time to prepare, they would turn to siege and Lord Kahedin would open the secret dungeon entrances. He was publicly executed and Uther immediately sent a notice to the Saxons and Caerleon. The two parties who were relying on Kahedin as intermediary folded out. Caerleon’s army returned before entering Camelot and Uther sent two battalions to deal with the Saxons. The Saxons fled. War was reverted and Camelot was saved from certain destruction by those anonymous friends who provided the critical information.

“Do you think that the servants provided the anonymous information?”

“Who else could have entered Sir Leon’s office twice and never be seen. Most of the servants are illiterate so they were not considered when the people were guessing the identity of Camelot’s secret friend. There were only a few of us who connected the dots but then only a few of us understood the real power of the servants. Most of them were honoring you by paying homage to your servant and the rest just did not want the ire of the servants even if they did not believe in their power.”

Arthur nodded but he could not help feeling that there was much happening in Camelot that the King and the Prince were unaware of.

Arthur then tried to remember what happened with Sir Vortigern. He was one of his father's older knights. He was the third son of a noble, he served under his father and then he went to his brother's estate. He returned to the castle after years. He had an affair with Lady Helga and she snitched on him. She told the king she saw him practicing sorcery and the conducted a search through his rooms and found some magical trinkets. Then he was summarily executed for practicing magic. The important thing was Merlin was against him from the first day.

Arthur inquired, “What do you think is the role of servants in the execution of Sir Vortigern?”

Lady Evaine crookedly laughed, “How else would the knights know how to open a three-dimensional trunk? Sir Vortigern was sharing the chambermaids and manservants with the other visitors. He did not own the servant's loyalty and when his room was being searched, a crying, sniveling and bumbling chambermaid told the knights how Sir Vortigern opened his trunk. The servants had a vendetta against him and they helped the knights.”

Arthur nodded. Sir Vortigern was a sorcerer. His three-dimensional trunk and his last-ditch effort to save himself were proofs of his guilt but Arthur never acknowledged the role of the servants. He just believed that his knights under Sir Hector did a marvelous job in catching a magic-user within the ranks of Uther’s knights.

Arthur could see a trend. Things were not as simple as he thought. The servants were weeding out those who refused to acknowledge their power.

He hesitantly asked, “What about Lord Madoc? What happened to him?”

Lady Evaine chirped, “Why? Nothing, of course, sire. Lord Madoc is a loyal servant of the crown. While he is maybe stupid and prideful, currently even after not paying homage to Merlin in the last whole year, he is enjoying the excellent facilities and hospitality of Camelot. However, he treads a fine line. In his arrogance, he has declared the servants his enemy and if he wobbles a little, they will shout. He moves under constant surveillance and has to be more careful of each word he spurts.”

Arthur loured. Lady Evaine’s word stuck on his gut. By paying homage to Merlin, the lords and ladies were buying concessions and chirping at the servants’ loyalty.

“My dear lady, you are the only expert on servant psychology that I currently know. You have read their motives and tried to connect the dots. How many nobles who paid homage were thrown to the dogs by the servants for their wrongdoings?”

The lady thoughtfully said, “The servants of Camelot are loyal. Even if they have formed a union and changed the way we interact, their jobs and their future are tied with us. You might ask Sir Hector and he would better answer this question.”

Arthur gave her an understanding smile.

\------------ 

Arthur once again asked Sir Hector and Sir Leon to join him.

“Hector, do you think that the servants are loyal to the royal family?”

Hector was thoughtful and then guiltily said, “I will give you a biased view. My eyes were opened by Merlin and I read more in some situations where others just see regular cases. Last week, I was trying to find the person guilty of breaking into Lady Nigel’s room. Such things are common and most of the time go unreported. The nobles and the knights are of the same rank and if there is mutual attraction then people turn a blind eye to their dalliance. If the lord and lady of their free will want to meet and enjoy each other's company, even the servants hold their silence. However, Lady Nigel is young and her father wanted to find the person who ‘tried to rape her’. As Lady Nigel claimed she was asleep before the attack and did not see the face of the attacker, I was sure that I would not be able to resolve the case. I knew Lord Tristan’s younger son, Rivelan and Lady Nigel were involved and he was my first suspect. He refused and also provided me with an airtight alibi. Now, I was at a loss. I would have given up but then I heard two servants gossiping near my office. To a passer-by, they were just catching up on the castle’s rumor and maybe spreading it and just happen to be near my office. I knew otherwise. They were discussing my case near my work area. I eavesdropped on them and learned that Rivelan’s best friend, Nicoli, son of Lord Steven, tried to dishonor Lady Nigel as she chose his friend over him. If he was successful in raping Nigel, she would lose her honor forever and Rivelan would be punished. I called Nicoli for questioning the next day and he yielded. After a few well-placed inquiries, I learned that both Nigel and Rivelan were kind to the servants while Nicoli acted like a true lord and sometimes bullied the servants. Now, I have to ask, does the servants’ role indicate their loyalty to the crown or their retribution?”

Before Arthur could answer, Leon huffily said, “That is their retribution.”

Hector shook his head, “As they facilitated the crown in solving a case, it is also loyalty. In the last two years, I have realized that when the servants willingly help it becomes easier to crack cases. Since the servants become more forthcoming, my job of protecting Camelot from internal threats has eased. There are so many cases that I solved in half the time or solved at all because of the positive role the servants played. I have been doing this same job for six years and I know when they want to be obtuse or difficult, it becomes impossible to track criminals.”

Arthur asked, “What if Nicoli was also kind to the servants? Would they have helped then?”

Hector again shook his head in negative, “Definitely not like this. They would have found some way to warn him and only disclosed his identity if he would have repeated the crime.”

“Then they would be obstructing justice which is a crime.”

Hector politely coughed, “The servants don’t understand justice. They understand love and respect. A servant would die for a benevolent master and even hide his crimes sometimes going so far as to get the blame on themselves and exonerate his or her masters. This nature of servants has not changed. Now they just have a way to unitedly deal with the bullies and mean masters.”

Arthur curiously asked, “Does that mean if Lord Kahedin or Sir Vortigern were kind, the servants would have aided them?”

Hector seriously said, “Not Lord Kahedin. I told you the servants are loyal to Camelot and currently they have found power with the ruling elite and have settled in a new equilibrium that they will protect. They would be more loyal to you than anything else. Sir Vortigern is another story. He was a sorcerer and that in itself was not the deal-breaker. I suspect there are three other sorcerers in your nobility but the servants are actively protecting them. So why was Sir Vortigern different? He used his power maliciously, he looked like a kind old knight who wanted to settle down but he controlled a few beasts which would have caused much destruction in Camelot when he released them. The chambermaid, who helped me open the other dimensions of his trunk, suggested care and physically stopped me from opening the cages of the creatures. After reporting to the king, we destroyed the creatures with the trunk. So, as far as I know, the servants currently follow two rules. First, the person should be respectful to servants otherwise they would find a way to take retribution. Secondly, the person should be loyal to Camelot and even sins like Sorcery could be overlooked.”

“This is not their decision?”

“But they are stakeholders in that decision. They will protect their devoted compassionate masters and throw the cruel disloyal masters to the wolves.” 

“What if I was a bully?”

Hector snorted, “You were a bully but then Merlin came into your life. He helped make you empathic to everyone around you and not just the servants. Whatever else, the servants would protect you with their lives, do not worry about it. They love you as much as your knights love you. They see you with Merlin and they see a human and not an unapproachable prince. They see someone who would have the power to change their lot and just might use it for their benefit as he is not hindered by rank. You are their Moses and they would follow you to the end of the world. You just don’t know that.” 

Arthur blushed but did not look convinced. He did not pursue the point as there was no sure answer to it and he was already challenged by two enigmas: Merlin and the power of the servants. However, he persisted, “What if the King was cruel to the servants?”

Hector resignedly said, “While I would like to say that they would remain loyal, I cannot answer this question with certainty. They might or might not find ways to deal with him. If you were ‘prattish’ then Merlin will let you know but there is no one who can tell the King and thus there is no way to know how the servants will deal with him.”

Arthur hissed. This was not good. This was a betrayal of the worst kind by the servants. What if they decided that they want to teach a lesson to the king; how far will they go?

Hector understood the snare on his face and said, “The King is mostly fair and seldom have to deal with the issue of servants. He never bullies or hits servants. He does not require to deprave services from them. As far as I know, in the last two years, none of the servants took their complaints to the king. So, for the King, the servants don’t exist outside their home role in running his house smoothly and for the servants, the King is responsible for the overall security of their homes and Kingdom. For their internal strife and issues, they have a leader who can amicably solve their issues and provide protection which the King, royals, nobles, and knights collectively can't or won't.”

“You sound as if they have chosen another king.”

“A leader not a King. A leader is like the nobles who rules over a small segment of the population but in the end, is accountable to the King.”

“And is there leader answerable to the King. The King does not even know he exists. The nobles derive their power from the King while this leader has grabbed control without King’s support. He and his followers do not follow the King’s edicts to the word and have their system of governance whereby they don’t even hesitate to crush the King’s orders to achieve their goals. No servant should be able to extract retribution from the knight, he is above the chain of authority. Lords and Nobles should not pay homage to a servant; yet, the leader of the servants has established himself above the nobles.”

Leon had been silent for a long time. He was one of the most loyal knights and his religion was to follow the King’s ordinance and the Knight’s code. He looked at Arthur and said, “We should tell the King and have this leader executed.”

“No. I will deal with Merlin personally.”

Leon suspiciously asked, “Who said anything about Merlin?”

Hector boomingly said, “You did not know that Merlin was the leader of the servants. You attend the council sessions and you know how the lords, nobles, knights and even some visiting royalty pay homage to Merlin along with the powerful lords and knights.”

Leon shook his head, “I never noticed. I always thought they were handing Arthur’s gifts to Merlin.”

Hector smiled knowingly, “A simple mistake if you don’t understand the new dynamics of the citadel. The cover he derives from Arthur has helped him survive recognition for this long and maybe he would have had a few more years in the shadows if someone had not snitched on him.” 

\------------------

It was slightly more difficult to track Lord Goloris and his son Regum. They were in their estate and Arthur had to find an excuse to visit them. He got the excuse in the form of a tax collection mission.

He was warmly welcomed by the Lord and his household.

The next day, Arthur inquired, “Lord Goloris, I have heard you had some problem with my servant.”

“Sire, Regum made a mistake. I and Regum have no ill feelings towards anyone.”

“I am sure. You and Regum are indeed merciful to forgive a servant’s misbehavior.”

“Sire, do you know the entire story? I doubt you have heard much truth in the rumor. Let me enlighten you with the real story if you are interested.”

“I am indeed interested.”

“Then, I should call Regum. It is his story.”

Regum was apprehensive and nervous. He shyly said, “I was barely sixteen when I was sent to Camelot for two years of training. I was hoping to become a knight and I like all lordlings was proud of my heritage boastful of my rank and overconfident in my abilities. I had been in Camelot for two days and was yet to be introduced to you as you were away on a hunting trip. Then one day, I was visiting my horse in the stable. My steed, Llamari, and I had grown together and our bond was unparalleled. While I was enjoying its company, a bumbling fool entered the stables. He was whistling and then he started fooling around with other stable boys. I was in Llamari stand and the servants did not realize I was there.”

Arthur immediately understood that the bumbling, whistling fool would have been Merlin.

“The idiot was telling a tale where he rustled the leaves and the deer that the ‘prat’ prince was trying to target ran away. The servant called it another successful hunt. I did not know enough but I memorized the face of the servant who dared to ruin your hunt and then joke about it.”

“That would indeed be Merlin. He was born to make my life difficult. I always have to work twice as hard to catch prey as Merlin unfailingly alerts my targets of our presence,” the prince snorted with neither hatred nor disdain.

“If only I knew he was your friend, if only I was not too conceited to think a prince and a servant could not be friends, nothing of this sort would have happened. Unfortunately, I was young and haughty. I made the wrong assumptions.”

“He is not.”

“Yes, Sire. My apologies. Anyway, I saw your banter with Merlin the next day and thought he was overstepping his bounds. He called you a clotpole during the feast and thought he was insulting you. The next day, I saw him carrying a water basin which I hurled at his head. He smiled and moved on. I laughed and the two guards who were with me also wolf-whistled. They clapped on my shoulder in encouragement and I booed. There were a few servants who were about and they gave me disappointed looks but I ignored them. I did not even realize that the small action from the morning would lead to any repercussions. That night my food was over salty and had a burnt smell about it but I ignored it. What an idiot I was!”

Arthur was not certain what should he say. Regum sounded like most of the squires and lordling who came to the citadel.

“For the next whole week, at least one meal was burnt or smoked or spilled. I always drew the short end in the meat and the sweets. If there was something short in the meal, my platter would be affected. I would be served the smallest portion of meat and then sometimes the pastry was missing, other times it was the other sweets. So, my mood was perpetually bad.”

Arthur nodded in understanding. He would have been in a sour mood if he was consistently getting bad service.

“Then I saw him in the market. He was buying some honey and other luxuries for himself. He was talking to another servant who was teasing him for getting a salary above his station to afford those goods which she would never be able to afford on a monthly basis. I don’t know but I got angry. Why should this good for nothing servant be able to eat such luxury items when I, a noble-born, was not even getting proper food? Once he paid for his things and was leaving, I mocked him. I called him and told him to carry my things. When he pointed out his hands were full, I moved forward and took the honey pot from his hand and threw it on the ground.”

Regum took a deep breath and continued, “He stared at the broken honey pot for a few minutes. Then he gulped and for a second, I thought he would attack but then he shrugged and turned away. My anger increased tenfold at being dismissed by a servant. Was I no more than a nuisance to this boy? I took the rest of the bag from his hand and threw it on the floor. I and my men stomped on it until nothing was left. He looks at me dismissively and turned once again to leave. I could not contain my anger. I moved forward and slapped him. He still tried to get away without saying a word so I taunted him and then started beating him. My men joined me and we roughed him up until the town people intervened and took him away.”

Arthur snarled. Just how many of his knights and nobles had abused Merlin and why did Merlin never complain?

Regum stopped speaking when Arthur snarled. He looked at Arthur and sighed, “My lord when did anyone ever tell us that servants were humans too. Servants existed. Peasants were there but they were no better than the ants that scramble about searching for food. We never paid attention to them and even if we did as we were their overlords, we never thought they felt anything. I am not sure about you but most of my age fellows in the peer are of the same thought process.”

Arthur smiled at Regum, “Maybe I thought the same until a few years ago.”

Regum did not comment but his face turned into a tight smile.

Arthur inquired, “What happened next?”

“Oh, for me things did not change much. I just got worse service than ever before and none of the servants wanted to stay in my employ for more than a day. As I was the youngest squire and knight potential, I just thought it was part of the hazing by my fellows and let it go for the next three months.”

Arthur nodded, “I have heard similar tales from others who have roughed servants in Camelot but I was told your story would give me another perspective but I guess most of it must be hearsay and gossip.”

Regum shook his head, “No sire. Three months later, Yvain came to Citadel to try to become a knight. I was so glad as my seniors would haze him and I would get my proper service. However, he received better service than I did and he always got a better piece of meat than I got. I asked around and found out that the poor service I was experiencing had nothing to do with my seniors but more so with the servants. A few casually pointed out that maybe I was rude to a servant and should apologize. I looked at them in horror and ignored their sage advice. However, at the end of five months mark, I returned home. I did not apologize to anyone nor did I change my attitude towards servants.”

Arthur curiously asked, “So, the servants drove you home?”

“No, sire. My health did. As I was eating burnt food for five months, I got ill. I could not continue the strenuous exercise to become a knight in my health. When I returned home, I did plan to go back and continue my training with the next lot.”

The prince curiously asked, “But you did not?” 

“I did not. I realized my blunder a bit too late.”

“What happened?”

Regum sighed, “Sire, I am not sure of the full event but maybe you would like to talk to the leader of our trader’s guild tomorrow. He knows everything.”

“Okay. I would like to meet him tomorrow.”

Regum nodded and Lord Goloris approved, “Yes, that would be better.”

Then the discussion turned to small talk.

\----------

The next day Arthur met the leader of the trader’s guild, Myrion. Myrion bowed and gave Arthur a small token of appreciation from the trader’s guild.

Lord Goloris introduced the topic, “Myrion, Prince Arthur would like to know what happened in Camelot when Regum returned.”

Myrion nodded. He looked at Arthur and said, “My lord, we have been trading with Camelot for generations. My great grandfather, my grandfathers, my father, my siblings, I, and my sons have been traders and we buy goods in Cambrith and its surrounding areas and sell them in Camelot. Then we buy goods in Camelot and sell them here. By now we have friendly terms with the traders in Camelot and I consider a few of them my friends.”

Arthur nodded in understanding.

“I am getting old so I have reduced my traveling which is now handled by my sons. They are young and don’t have as many connections as I do. Two months after Lord Regum went to Camelot, I heard some tension brewing between my traders and when I asked them, they said that Camelot’s traders were being petty and bargained harder than usual. I ignored it as it was trivial. A half a penny extra towards one party is never a big deal and over a longer period, Cambrith’s traders would regain the lost margin.”

Arthur tried to decipher this and thoughtfully nodded.

“Then Lord Regum returned and things got a bit worse. The Camelot traders were giving us a harder time. However, three months after he returned, a trading party returned with the goods they took to sell in Camelot. It was disturbing and I decided it was time to visit a few friends in Camelot.”

Arthur was now listening to the story eagerly as he knew that another piece of the puzzle would come from this part of the story.

“I went to Camelot and visited a few shops to get the impression……”

\----------- 

_Myrion entered a shop and greeted the shop owner. After the pleasantries, he tried to sell his ware, “I have the best wool from Cambrith.”_

_The shopkeeper inspected his wares and then said, “Yes, I see it is of good quality. I will give you three coins for this whole lot.”_

_Myrion laughed, “My brother, this is worth ten gold coins.”_

_“Maybe in Mercia. But in Camelot Cambrith’s wool is worth only threepence.”_

_He was confused and then when after two hours of haggling, the shop keeper only raised the price to four coins, he left. He tried another three shops and got the same quote._

_In the next shop, he changed tactics. He tried to buy some wares rather than sell them. He knew the mud glasses from Egron cost ten silver coins for three glasses but when he inquired the price, the shop keeper quoted, “twenty silver coins for three glasses.”_

_He again laughed and tried to haggle. Everything he toughed was quoted at twice the normal price. By then Myrion had lost his patience and he left the shop in a huff. Something fishy was happening. The traders in Camelot were not acting normally._

_He rushed to his friend's shop and demanded, “Basil, what is happening? Cambrith’s wool is the best in Camelot and it is being quoted at a third of its price. When I want to buy anything, they ask for double the price.”_

_Basil was also an old man. He looked at me sternly and said, “Myrion, it is nothing personal.”_

_“Why are the traders acting like this?”_

_“Come, we are old men. We should not stand here and gossip. Come to my place for dinner and I will tell you why Cambrith’s traders are differentiated against.”_

_Myrion glared but relented._

_That night when the two friends sat down for dinner, Basil said, “Things have changed in Camelot. We have gained a protector, someone who is ready to stand for the rights of the peasants and servants. Earlier we meant nothing. We were like dirt pieces under the feet of the nobility. They could rape our girls, steal from us, and attack us and no one was there to listen to us. Our new protector listens and then solves our problems. Everyone is better off because one person decided to take action.”_

_“Yeah, so. How does it affect us?”_

_“Incidentally, the nobles of Cambrith think they are better than us and they can stampede over our rights. This is not so. Until the nobles of Cambrith apologize to the grieved party, no one in Camelot will give you a favorable rate.”_

_“But this makes no sense. Why are we being hurt? You should question the nobles?”_

_“They think that if they sit in their mansions and their estates, they don’t have to answer to the people. Well, now people do not want their goods. If you cannot sell your ware, you cannot give them the exorbitant taxes and then let us see how they would continue their lifestyle.”_

_Myrion snarled, “We could sell our wares in Mercia. It is closer to us.”_

_“Yes. That is an incredible idea. You should. You will make more money and you would have to pay fewer transportation fees.”_

_“But would it not hurt you and your mission? The nobles will still get their taxes and it would be more than we previously paid.”_

_“But they would soon lose their lives,” Basil said with haughty laughter, “What do you think the king would do when he learns Lord Goloris is changing allegiance and selling all his ware in Mercia. His estate is next to Mercia and with such a move, he could easily ascend to Mercia.”_

_Myrion bristled at the anger against the nobles of Cambrith who were fair and managed their estate well._

_Myrion returned to Cambrith a week later. They returned home with everything they had taken to sell._

_Myrion knew he must tell Lord Goloris everything before they switched the trade routes. However, Lord Goloris was not in Cambrith and some traders started making connections in Mercia. The trade route which earlier had less traffic immediately saw double the traffic._

_When Lord Cambrith returned four months later, there were only a handful of traders who were waiting for him to correct matters. Lord Goloris’ regent had refused to believe the complaints and thus he had not contacted the lord immediately._

_So, Lord Goloris was surprised when a day after his return, he got a request from the trader’s guild for a meeting. He was busy and had to postpone their request for another two weeks._

_Two weeks later, when Lord Goloris and Myrion met, Myrion told him everything that had happened in Camelot as well as the current change in the trade from Camelot to Mercia._

_\-----------_

Lord Goloris continued, “I was extremely worried when I found out that for four months Cambrith was primarily trading with Mercia. I understood that if this pattern continued for another few months, the King’s army would descend on me. I must correct this immediately. My first step was to set a roster for trade with Mercia so that not all my traders were in Mercia at the same time. Traders need to be busy or they would revolt so it was for the best that they did something. Then I came to Camelot. It took me two months to find out what happened and why the entire lower town was against Cambrith.”

Arthur was looking at the lord and saw fear when he talked about the king.

“My Prince, the peasants found a way to dispose me even when I was in my estate and had no intention of going against my King. Yet, they destroyed my economy and wealth in six months, and in another few months they would have had the pleasure of enjoying my removal at best and hanging at worst.”

“What did you do?”

“I commissioned ten cloaks and ten dresses which included shirts, trousers, sweater, hats, mittens, socks, and shoes of Cambrith’s wool for your manservant. This I took to him and made Regum apologize publicly in the lower town. He was polite and denied the gifts but when I insisted, he took them. Obviously, my traders stopped facing difficulties in Camelot.”

“So, you mean to tell me that my manservant has the power to lead a revolt against a noble?”

Lord Goloris sighed, “Definitely, Sire. This is exactly what I am telling you.”

“And why did Regum not return this year?”

Regum replied, “I am not sure of my welcome anymore. You manservant said everything was okay but I am not so sure. I also do not want to restart another revolt against my father.”

Arthur nodded. He understood the place Regum was coming from but he persisted, “Do the servants really have this much power? What would the people of the lower town expect to achieve through this?”

Lord Goloris groaned, “Sire, only the servants can answer to this?”

Arthur nodded and excused himself early.

\------------ 

That night, while he sat on his table pondering over the issue, he was happy that he did not allow Merlin to tag along. Now he could think about some way to find out everything in which Merlin was involved without him catching up. 

The next morning, he went to Lord Goloris and Regum after breakfast and demanded their help. They readily agreed to help in any way possible.

Arthur presented his case. Regum was a bit apprehensive but when the prince insisted, he agreed to follow with Arthur’s plan. Then the three of them spent another three days improving on the plan.

\----------


	3. Merlin’s POV- AD 624-Why am I a servant?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin almost cries wolf until he doesn't.

Arthur was acting strangely. Very strange indeed. It was not like Arthur had changed or anything, he was still a prat and nothing was going to change that. It was just that Arthur was keeping a secret. Something big if the way he was acting had anything to say about it.

In the last six months, he was often in Sir Leon's office with Sir Hector. At other times, the three of them were often found huddled together having serious discussions. However, for all their hanging out, they were wary and did not let anyone snoop on them. As soon as I approached them, they broke up. None of the other servants was even able to hear a word said between the three. I even tried to snoop but they found out and since then Arthur had increased my duties twofold.

One of the reasons for these discussions was that Sir Leon and Arthur were going to Mercia and Sir Hector would be in charge of all the duties. The idea of the trip came out of the blue. Once Arthur returned from Cambrith, he was suspicious of Lord Goloris intentions. Even with everything Merlin said and argued, on the contrary, the prince did not believe that Lord Goloris was not planning to ascend to Mercia. Thus, he suggested to Uther that he wanted to go to Mercia for two months. However, he did not tell his suspicions about Lord Goloris and may have insinuated that he planned to court Princess Mithian during his stay in Mercia. That was the oddest part, Arthur explicitly told me that he never intended to court Mithian.

As expected, anything I said on the topic was discounted. My first fear was that Arthur was enchanted but that was not the case. I soon found out that it had to with his belief about Goloris and had little to do with Mithian. Mithian was just a red herring that he dangled in front of Uther to get the two months leave approved.

When Merlin delivered Arthur’s breakfast on the day they were supposed to leave, Arthur told him, “Merlin, you will be reporting to Sir Hector for the next two months.”

“Arthur, Mercia?”

“I will not need you there. Sir Leon and I will share his squire. I will also use this opportunity to train my own squire.”

“But I must come with you. I have always been with you when you were away from the citadel. Why is this time different?”

“It is because I don’t want you making a fool out of yourself in front of Mithian. If she is to be your queen, she must see you blunder while we are courting.”

“I can be competent?” Merlin nervously said.

“Was that a question. No. You can’t be competent and thus you must stick with what you do best. Nothing,” Arthur mockingly said and then seriously added, “And stay here. It is an order from your prince.” 

“No. I must stay with you.”

“Is there a specific reason for your casual disregard of my order or are you obtuse. This time you will best serve me by staying in Camelot. If you disobey my order, I will banish you from Camelot. I am serious, Merlin. You need to learn to follow orders.”

Merlin was shocked at the seriousness of the tone. In any other situation, he would have disregarded the order and followed Arthur to Mercia but now he was not certain. Arthur wanted him to learn a lesson and Merlin was sure he had already learned it. He knew how to follow orders. Did he not follow Arthur's orders throughout the day? 

“I will worry about you,” he replied seriously.

“It's only for two months. Then you will have a prince and princess to serve so think of this time as your partial holiday as when I return you will not have a second for yourself.”

‘I would prefer your company to freedom.”

“I know but even you must learn to follow some orders. You will serve Sir Hector and I don’t want to hear any complaints. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Sire. Though you are a dollop head. Also, if you die in Mercia or if you are enchanted, I am blaming you. You are leaving the best manservant cum spy over here.”

Arthur gave a hearty boom and then left. Merlin was mad at Arthur for leaving him behind. Why could Merlin not follow him like he usually did? This is the first time in four years that Arthur has left for more than a week and left Merlin behind. So, Arthur was acting very strangely.

Merlin stood near the gate and his eyes followed Arthur for as far as they could. Once Arthur and his party disappeared from view, he turned morosely. He had a new master to serve. 

His steps were heavy and his thoughts on his beloved prince. He did not think about where he was going until he found himself outside Arthur’s chambers. He sighed heavily and turned around. He was going to find Sir Hector and resume his new duties.

Sir Hector was in his office and he welcomed Merlin like an old friend.

“Merlin, it is good to see you. Arthur said you will be assisting me while I shouldered his and Sir Leon’s responsibilities.”

“It will be my pleasure, my lord.”

“No, my lord and other such formalities with me. You can call me Hector in private and a Sir in public would do. So, you will perform all the same duties for me that you did for Arthur. I wake up an hour after dawn and prefer my breakfast in my chamber. My lunch and dinner I take in the barracks with the other men. You will be free after dinner. You will keep my room clean and for the next two months, your sole task is to ensure that my personal duties are fulfilled and I can focus on the professional side without worrying.”

“It will be an honor, Sir Hector. I will do my best to ensure you do not have to worry about anything.”

Hector gave him a small smile and Merlin left his office to start his new duties.

\---------------

Two weeks had passed since Arthur left and Merlin was working with Sir Hector. Working with Sir Hector was nothing as strenuous as working for Arthur. Hector was also supportive so Merlin found himself with excess time for the first time since he started working in Camelot.

At the end of the day, Sir Hector ordered, “Merlin, tomorrow Lord Goloris’ son Regum will be re-joining the knight potentials. He left a year ago due to health issues. I want you to talk to Gaius so that you and Gaius can monitor his health.”

Merlin knowingly smiled. He knew the real reason behind Regum’s earlier departure and he was sure now that he had learned his lesson, he would be able to complete his knight training. Lord Goloris gift of ten Cambrith’s wool’s cloaks and full dresses had been welcome. Winters are harsh and the peasants and servants felt the worst end of it. With the gifts from the lords and nobles, Merlin had helped numerous servants and poor folk from the lower town. No one ever argued if in the process he had one of the best wardrobes amongst the servants. Not that he was fickle and kept the best things for himself, he always wanted to donate the gifts he receives except for the books which none of the other servants wanted. However, the other servants and peasants were too kind. When Lord Goloris gave him the cloak and dresses, he wanted to give all of them to the needy but the others refused to take any until Merlin took one set first. For the first time in his life, he possessed two warm sweaters and three cloaks along with other clothes for the rest of the seasons. His cupboard in his small room was full of these clothes. This was after he had helped his mother and the deserving families from Ealdor.

“Of course, Hector. I will ask Gaius to meet Regum and work out a health plan.”

“Thank you, Merlin. That will be all for the day.”

\---------

The next day Regum came to Camelot with his entourage. This time Regum had brought two servants of his own. They were two middle-aged ladies who he kept busy on the first day so Merlin did not get a chance to interact with them. Then they stuck close to Regum’s quarters and thus Merlin essentially forgot about them. As long as Regum treated them with respect, Merlin did not have an issue with newcomers to the citadel.

This time Regum greeted Merlin warmly and also presented a set of philosophy books to him. When Regum was a bit apprehensive, Merlin assured him that bygones were bygones and Merlin and the other servants would treat him would the respect he deserves.

\------------

At the end of the week, Merlin skipped out of the citadel and jogged towards the lower town. Every Saturday the representatives from the lower town and servants meet to resolve bigger issues to the community. The meeting always took place on the upper floor of the tavern. No one found it odd if the servants and peasants amassed in the pub every Saturday.

Merlin entered the tavern and without drinking moved towards the stairs where he knew the others would be waiting for him. He opens the door and smiled at his closest friends in the gathering. There was Gwen, Sir Gwaine, and Sir Lancelot, who were his best friends. Then there was Barbara the cook, Timothy the footman, Elias the stable boy, Alice the baker’s wife, Selina the cobbler and Thomas the social worker from the lower town all of whom had taken more duties and were now in charge of the whole project. They were his eyes, ears, and hands. Without them, he would have failed years ago.

Some people bowed when he entered the room but he cringed. He was never one for formality and he was neither a knight nor a noble that these people who were his peers should bow to him.

He huffed and complained, “Please don’t bow to me.”

There were some grumbling and some people nodded their heads but he knew that next time once again he would have to remind them. He sighed and stood at the front of the room, “My friends welcome. Once again, we meet to discuss the issues faced by the peasants of Camelot. I would like to start today's proceedings with the introduction of those who have agreed to join us. Barbara?”

The cook stood up and smiled at him, “Merlin, I am happy to announce that four new servants have decided to assist us in making the Citadel and Lowertown a better place for all of us. We have with us today Herion, the personal manservant of Lord Toma, Edi and Eva, the attendants of Regum, and Alice the new sweeping women.”

Everyone applauded their presence.

Merlin welcomed them, “Herion, Edi, Eva and Alice, we are glad that you decided to join us. Our aims and purposes are very simple; we intend to make the life of the peasant population of Camelot better. Over the last two years, we have taken many initiatives which we believe have and will keep on improving our lot. I am sure Barbara and some of the others must have debriefed you but I would summarize the main points of interest. First, we do not approve of bullying or torture of the servants. The masters must learn to respect and care for their servants. If your master or anyone else hurts you, hits you, tortures you, cause you pain or suffering, you will immediately report to me or the two good knights, Sir Gwaine and Sir Lancelot. Once you report your master or anyone else for their bullying behavior, we will collectively take measures to ensure that your master understands the pain and suffering he or she has caused the servants. Okay?”

The four servants nodded. Alice looked grim while Herion looked tense and nervous. Edi and Eva the middle-aged females who served Regum looked poised and alert.

Merlin continued, “Secondly, there is a zero-forgiveness policy for rape. No noble or knight is allowed to rape anyone. If anyone is blamed for rape, then the only punishment is castration. If a noble-born cannot keep his instrument inside his jeans, then they should not keep it at all.”

Edi and Eva looked nervous and Edi asked in her sweet soft voice, “My lord, what if someone wrongly accuses his or her master of rape?”

Merlin smiled and assured, “We have ways to tell if someone is lying. If a servant lies, then they will pay the same price that they want to inflict on an innocent party. We had this problem at the start and we wrongly punished a lord. A servant accused him of bullying behavior and we believed the servant and went ahead with our plan to mock the noble. It was later that we learned that the servant made a false complaint because the noble sacked him. We not only devised a way to sift lies but also punished the servant. That servant is no longer in Camelot. We do not take well to lying and false accusations.”

Edi nodded.

Then Merlin placed the third rule, “You will have to pay ten silver coins from your salary each month to Gwen. Five silver coins are to provide some certainty in your future and help you when you lose a job or get old and retire. Two silver coins are for your health issues. We have established a system in which everyone pools in money monthly and then if you get sick, we will fund your entire health care including a visit to the physician and medicine. The remaining three silver coins are for the management fees of the resources. We need volunteers to assist us in tasks. These people work in the morning and then during the evening or night, they volunteer their time to us. We assign them tasks that need to be done for the smooth functioning of this entire venture. These people must be paid for their efforts and are paid from these three coins.”

Herion haughtily asked, “What if I do not want to pay the ten silver coins?”

“This is not a request. If you join us you will pay.”

Herion looked uncertain and Alice asked, “So if we work for you then will we get extra money?”

Merlin nodded, “Yes. People who volunteer their time do get extra income. However, I would suggest you learn horse riding at your earliest as most of the work we have will require you to leave the citadel.”

Alice questioned, “How will I learn horse riding?”

Elias, the stable boy, stepped forward, “That is my work. I volunteer to teach anyone who wants to learn. You can contact me and we will sort out some time when I can help you.”

Alice persisted, “And how much will you charge?”

Elias shook his head, “Nothing from you. You will just be telling Timothy, the footman, that I assisted you for x number of hours per week. I will also tell him my own estimate. He will then pay me from the pooled money. You will be learning a skill and not paying a dime. How cool is that!”

Herion grumbled, “What if I know riding then this will be useless to me?”

Timothy, the footman, inquired, “Then there must be something else you would like to learn? We can teach you to read and write, to count stock, to cook, to cut wood and any other number of things. If you are willing to learn, there is someone else who is willing to teach. Currently, half the servants in the citadel and many people from the town are gaining one or other type of education. Every Wednesday and Sunday day, Merlin holds classes to help people read and write. These sessions are well attended. If you learn to read and write you can improve your lot. Your pay will increase or you can shift to a better position and will get more promotions.”

Eva shyly asked, “My lord, can anyone attend your classes?”


	4. Arthur’s POV-AD 624-Is that treason or loyalty?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur digs deeper. What undercover surprises await him?

Arthur’s plan has worked. Regum bought Leon and him back to Camelot as his servants. Acting as servants and particularly like female servants was difficult. The prince and Leon had to consistently wear gowns and headpieces to hide their hair and ears. Lady Goloris was kind enough to bleach their hair so that they did not resemble the old ones. She bought their costumes and made them work in her household with the other staff members for a week. During this time, they learned their jobs as well as managed to consistently speak in the same feminine voice and act like a female. After a week in Mercia, this was essential training if they wanted to infiltrate in the secret society of the servants. 

So, the next task was to keep hidden from Merlin which would be difficult as he had the uncanny knack of identifying Arthur even when he was undercover. The middle-aged female servant role helped as the head, ears, and hair were hidden by a headscarf, the eyes and nose by a thin veil that was common amongst the Christian females, nobles, and peasants alike. In his hands, he wore white gloves and his feet were covered by the long overalls. Lady Goloris tailor was able to sew their clothes with a pouch which gave them a three-month pregnant lady type belly. At the end of the deception, he looked like a middle-aged female and not like himself at all. 

Now as he sat in this secret meeting where Merlin’s secrets were being exposed, he remained calm. Well, as calm as he could. Why were Merlin, Gwaine, and Lancelot taking money from the servants? How are they using the money and who says they are not stealing it? And since when does Merlin have time to teach? When did he start and why did he not tell Arthur about it?

Time to find out how good a sham this all was, so he bought the shyness to his voice and asked, “My lord, can anyone attend your classes?” 

Merlin beamed at him, “My lady, I am no lord. I am not yet a prat and I do not intend to become one. You can call me Merlin. Yes. Anyone who wishes to read and write can join my classes. I will be here tomorrow from nine to fourteen hundred hours. You can come anytime. If I am unavailable, then Gwaine or Selina would conduct the session.”

Arthur inquired, “The same time on Wednesday?”

“Yes.”

If this fool is holding this meeting on Saturday and then teaching till 2 AM on Sunday and Wednesday, no doubt he is late every morning.

Before I could ask any other question, Gwen said, “About this training, you can talk to us at a later time. We have much to discuss tonight and not enough time. The fourth rule is that we help each other. If you want free time, you will come to Timothy or me and tell us the slots when you want to be free. We will ask others to fill your slots. Every time you fill other people’s slot, you get a time credit. We swap the credits so that there is equitable distribution. This way you can have some life and still be gainfully employed.”

Leon inquired, “For what purposes can we ask for a switch?”

Gwen politely smiled at Edi, “Anything. You want a date and both of you can ask to be free at the same time. There is a family emergency, there is a family gathering or any other personal reason. We don’t differentiate as long as you assist others when they need time off, we will help you.”

Herion asked, “What if someone takes a lot of time off but they don’t help others?”

Sir Gwaine laughed, “You think we don’t have that kind of people? We do. We also know how to deal with them. They just don’t like it when we make them pay their debt to the others. We achieve nothing if even one person can play the system we have placed. Talk to other servants and they will tell you what happens if you sabotage other people's work while you work in their stead or you don’t work at all during the assigned time slot. The only exception is death when we forgo a person’s time debt.”

Gwaine looked eager and I decided to take on his bet. I would take free time and then refuse to take over other people’s slots.

Lancelot then boldly said, “The King, prince, knights, and nobles seldom have time to resolve the issues between the servants. Most of those issues are below them and are passed on to Lord Mathias who is biased. For this reason, for the last year and a half, Merlin is the sole arbitrator of servants and peasants. If they have an issue, they can come to Merlin on Tuesday. He would be available from nine PM to two AM to resolve any such issues. If you take your issue to Lord Mathias or the King, then we will uphold their judgment. Pick wisely. If one party wants to take the issue to Lord Mathias or the King and others wants to bring it in front of Merlin, then we will assist the party who wants to solve the issue internally and amicably.”

So, he was even working on Tuesday nights. That is four nights of the week he is working with the servants. No doubt the consider him their leader if he is the sole arbitrator of their issues. However, I would like to test Lancelot’s claim about Lord Mathias being biased and also like to see how Merlin’s court worked. 

Merlin once again took control, “So, those are the basic rules for the servants. You can ask clarifying questions whenever you want. We have other issues to deal with currently.” Then he turned to Thomas the social worker, “So, did you help Griselda’s family?”

“Yes, Merlin. They have all been relocated to Daobeth. It was a bit difficult to smuggle them out of Camelot but we managed.”

“That is good,” Merlin smilingly said.

Another woman who was standing with Merlin touched his face and proudly said, “I have seen how in the last twenty years the purge has destroyed families. One person in the family was accused and the whole family was destroyed. Since you came in our lives, you have been nothing but a blessing and an angel. People now fear to wrongly accuse someone and if they have proof, they come to you before they go to the king. The way you helped Griselda’s family, the Malfoy family, and the Umbridge family, you upheld the King’s ruling and saved the families from certain destruction. You have our loyalty for this.”

Merlin shyly said, “Alice, my dear, I try to help when I can. Things are bad enough as it is with the purge and the enemies of Camelot attacking ever so often. We have lost many good men and women to both Uther’s ruthlessness and pride and the enemies’ hatred. If we can help the few who are still peaceful and untainted by the hatred we can hope for a better future. That is my only dream. Have we not seen a cycle repeating itself ever so often? When will it end? Have we not seen enough Mary Collin’s trying to kill Arthur to take revenge for their sons or daughters that Uther savagely killed? Then there are also enough Edwin Muirden who wants to kill Uther and Arthur for their lost family members and their lost childhoods? If I can stop one person from becoming a Mary Collin or Edwin Muirden, we would have a safer country and our prince would be protected from the follies of his father’s actions.”

Arthur hissed. Merlin was taking the law in his hand. Even if he had valid justification but this was treason. He took control of his emotions, wrapped his anger, and bought nervousness to his voice before asking, “Is this not treason?”

Merlin shrugged, “Maybe. All I care about is to protect Arthur and one day be ruled by an empathetic and good king who cares for his people. There will be no better King than Arthur and if I want to see his destiny fulfilled than I am ready to die for treason.”

Arthur was touched by the loyalty shown to him and simultaneously angered by the disloyalty shown to his father. Arthur persisted, “What if you and the others are caught?”

Merlin took a deep breath and calmly said, “Years ago, I had a chance to help Morgana but I was weak. I did not help her and today what you see if the result of my failure. Morgana had singlehandedly killed and maimed more knights and people of Camelot than any other enemy. I am trying to ensure than no other Morgana’s are born because I was weak and did not do the right thing. If I am caught and hanged, then I would gladly die with a clear conscience that I made a difference. The question is whether you want to be a part of the difference or do you want to see Camelot wither with hatred?”

Arthur was not sure how to respond to this statement? He was not even aware that Merlin blamed himself for Morgana’s choices. What Merlin said made sense but it was also a treason of the highest order. He looked at Leon who was frothing in anger. Thankfully no one was paying attention to him as Merlin and Lancelot were talking to the Alice who was so touchy-feely with Merlin. Arthur took hold of Lancelot’s hand and softly shook his head. This was not the time to destroy everything. They were undercover and they must gather maximum information.

Once Merlin had satisfied the few people who wanted to know the fate of the Griselda family, he turned the discussion to another topic, “Selina, how much collection have you made from the town’s people this month? I was hoping that the people would start to willingly pay by now?”

Selina, the cobbler, hissed and her voice was dripping with sarcasm “It's not like you are helping them with all their incremental and accidental expenditure? Or is it that they don’t benefit from the two apprentices that you got for Gaius which you pay from the societal funds when the King and prince refused to fund the physician for the lower town.”

Merlin interjected, “In all honesty, Arthur was not there when you presented the case and the King decided against getting a fulltime physician or giving Gaius another apprentice. Arthur and I were on a patrol and by the time he returned, the King had already made the decision and shelved the discussion. So, don’t blame Arthur for this.”

Arthur was gaping at Merlin now. He was defending Arthur in front of his people and protecting his image. Arthur noted that Merlin had no love or respect for his father but he did not let anyone sully the prince's name. He internally laughed as Merlin kept that duty to himself; only he could vilify and smear Arthur’s name. 

“Ok,” Selina dejectedly said, “Protect your prince but no. The people of the lower town are not very forthcoming. Only seventy-five percent of them had paid their monthly ten silver coins while the rest are still trying to buy time.”

Merlin inquired from the general body, “Any ideas?”

One man shouted, “Don’t let them take benefit of the apprentices.”

Merlin shook his head and authoritatively said, “No. We will not discriminate on health. Anything else.”

Arthur never knew that Merlin could issue commands or have that kind of authoritative voice. Arthur like the tone of authority in his voice and wanted to hear it again.

Another person said, “What if we don’t help them when they are in need as it is our money that we are spending on them. John, my neighbor, does not pay still we fixed his roof. Why?”

Merlin again shook his head, “When people are in problem, we should help them this way they will know of our kindness and will remember that we helped them when they were in most need. Also, it would be cruel to turn our backs on those who are suffering. I want a peacetime long-term solution which induces others to pay willingly.”

Merlin was still the kind-hearted fool even if he took some very hard decisions. Arthur also realized that the King would have accepted this solution. 

One person stepped forward, Arthur recognized that he was a trader from the lower town, “There is something we can do to assist. We did it before to teach a lesson to the knights and nobles who were out of the reach of servants. I remember when I insisted Sir Hector and Lady Solais pay double the price for my wares. If you provide us a list of the people who have not paid the societal fees, we will start charging them double for all commodities they buy from us.”

A few other traders bobbed their heads in agreement.

Merlin smiled, “Yes, that will work. It will stop others from defaulting and we can still help everyone who is in need. Thanos talk to Archie, the leader of the trader’s guild, and finalize the plan with him. I hope Archie is well, it's not like he would miss these sessions? Selina will provide you with the name of the families who are not paying their due.”

Then Merlin turned to Selina again, “Any other issues you want to bring up?”

She shook her head and then Merlin turned to Thanos again, “Thanos, are there any issues of the traders which must be discussed today?”

While Thanos shook his head, another trader stepped forward, “My lord, the King has increased tax on the cloth traders. We have to pay an additional gold coin per month. While it is true that we make more profit than the rest, but we also have more money tied up. We give advance loans to cotton farmers, the weavers, and the tailors. Our goods take more time to transport due to their bulk and our trade caravans to other countries are not funded by the king, unlike other countries’ traders. With all these costs, it is really difficult to pay the additional tax.”

Merlin was thoughtful and once again addressed the general assembly, “Any ideas that could be used to facilitate the cloth traders or alleviate the problem discussed by John?”

No one spoke for the longest time. What could they say? It was a king’s decree and they could not revolt. They would have to pay the taxes.

After five minutes, Gwen stood up and mumbled something in Merlin’s ears who nodded and said, “We will take a fifteen minutes recess. I think Gwen has an idea to help you and we need to discuss it fully before we can put it in front of everyone.”

Then Merlin, Gwen, Gwaine, Lancelot, Barbara the cook, Timothy the footman, Elias the stable boy, the touchy-feely Alice, Selina the cobbler and Thomas the social worker all left the room. The others started to excitedly talk. I shifted closer to the traders to listen to what they were saying. John, the cloth trader who had presented the issue was angrily cursing father, “At least Merlin had the decency to hear to my request and then ask for solutions. When I presented my problem to the king, he looked at Lord Kay who disgustedly said that the crown had the right to the extra profit we made. He did not even make some trivial effort to ease our problems.”

Another trader added, “Yes, Merlin is like that. Even if he does not know the answer or solution, he asks everyone gathered for ideas. We know most of us are illiterate and not well-read like the lords and ladies but someone or the other suggests something and we come up with a way to partially help everyone. This is the primary reason, Merlin’s reading and writing classes are famous. Everyone knows that if more people are literate, they can help make our society better.”

“Yes, that is why so many traders attend this session every Saturday. Even on Tuesdays when he is resolving the issues, he is open to ideas and everyone learns a lot. I never miss a session when Merlin is presiding if I could help it. I and my wife are both die-hard believers in Merlin and we like the easy atmosphere in these meetings,” a third trader added.

“You are young and don’t have kids, so you can come here five nights a week but I can’t. Even then I am always here on Saturdays. One should always know what policies are made and how they will affect us. Here we have the chance to change our own lives for the better,” a fourth voice added.

“How is it turned for the better? We have to pay twenty-five silver coins per month for our business and another ten for our houses. This is too much? Why does no one complain?” another person asked. “You say you are part of the policymaking over here and yet you don’t stop this thievery. Now they have a method to force us to pay. Merlin is a thief and a crook. He should be reported to the king and beheaded.”

The atmosphere immediately turned. The friendly smiles turned into scowls. The people were not glaring at the person who dared to vilify their messiah, “Call Merlin a thief or crook again and you won’t survive the night. Anthony, you don’t want to go against us. We will destroy you and Merlin will not even found out. Only then, when you are low on luck you will realize Merlin is not a thief but a saint. Merlin is not running away with the money we give him. Last month, the king’s runaway horse destroyed half the pots in Zack’s shop. The King did not even pay him a dime for his loss. He would have been in deep financial crises until he saved for new inventory but Merlin immediately helped him and within three days his shop was full again. There are countless other stories of people whom he has helped. In the last three years, none of the shops closed down because they could not fund their operations. If you are in problem, tell Merlin or any of the others and they will try to assist.”

“Still twenty-five silver coins per month is too much,” the man, Anthony, persisted.

“Well, he asked how much would traders be willing to part to have that kind of security and Archie consulted with us. Eighty percent of the traders from the lower town met and discussed this figure. We started with one silver coin. The bigger traders thought that it would be fair for all. Who do you think shouted at us for our miserliness and insisted on fifty silver coins? I will tell you. The smaller traders who had the most at stake. The bigger traders like myself have fewer issues but Zack would not have survived the damage and would have closed the shop. We negotiated for two days before reaching the amount of twenty-five silver coins. Every business can spare them if they are assured that they will get timely help when needed.”

Then Anthony nervously asked, “So Merlin did not demand the twenty-five silver coins per month then why are you paying it. We can hold our own money and use it when needed.”

The others shrugged, when Thanos calmly said, “You just shifted to the lower town two months back. You don’t know how things were here. One would think that we are living in the capital so we would be most protected. Well, we were not. Our daughters were raped by the knights and nobles. The guards stole our savings and took things from our shops without paying. Every few months someone would close or sell their business as they could not continue with all the stealing and pilfering. It was a bad time. The King and the prince never noticed us. We were below them and we did not exist apart from paying taxes. Then Merlin came and everything improved. Everything. The nobles fear to touch our daughters. The guards fear to touch our hard-earned money. The knights no longer act as if they own everything in our shops and are mostly respectful. It is because of these changes that he holds our loyalty.”

“But now we don’t need him. We can do it for ourselves,” Anthony tried again. “Why should we be subservient to a servant?”

Another trader hissed, “One more word out of your mouth and we will destroy you, Anthony. You think you are a big trader and can do as you want. Know this that for Merlin we bought the Lord of Camrith to his knees. We boycotted all of Cambrith’s products. We bought their wares at a third of their prices and sold them ours at double the prices. The trader’s union of Cambrith turned against their lord. Don’t interfere with what you don’t know. Now shut up. The others are returning and we don’t want to hear anything from the likes of you.”

Arthur was lost in the discussion, mesmerized by the loyalty that Merlin had. He was also embarrassed that he as Prince of Camelot did not know about the plight of his people. His knights and guards were the source of their woes.

Merlin and the others entered the room. Merlin directed a query to John, the clothes trader, “What percent of the funding is supported by the Kings of other countries who charge seven percent tax?”

John hesitatingly said, “I am not sure of the exact figure but the gossip places it about thirty percent.”

Merlin gave him a small smile and said, “This might then work. We will start by funding ten percent of all cloth businesses of Camelot. We will increase the percentage as we get more funds.”

John tentatively asked, “Where will you get the funds?”

Merlin promptly answered, “For some time we were planning to invest three-quarters of the collection. You don’t expect that when you retire, ten silver coins per month will be sufficient? Similarly, the prices are always increasing and we don’t want to hold the proceeds stagnant and still hope to be helpful in the future. A quarter of the proceeds will still be used to help the people and businesses while the rest will be invested to fulfill your needs for the future.”

Arthur could not help ask, “And you have sufficient funds to fund ten percent of all cloth business in Camelot?”

Gwen answered, “Yes, we have been collecting money for two years and we did not know where to invest it. Clothes business is one of the most profitable ones and one which would surely get us the required return. It will help ease their burden and also help us provide better care to our people in the future.”

Arthur wanted to argue more but Merlin had decidedly made his mind as he said, “John ask Archie and other clothes traders to sit with Sir Lancelot, Gwen, and Selina and finalize the details. We will hopefully hear your report and maybe even the finalized documents within a week or two. Within the next week or two, before we sign the deal, anyone who thinks that we should not invest the money should come up with a logical plan to facilitate the people and give them health and retirement benefits without investing. Once we invest the money, we will not entertain any naysayers.”

Once again Merlin was impressed. He did not let people argue for the sake of arguing as the nobles did. He gave them time to think about their words and logically convince him and his other council members. If they cannot think of anything then they would accept the decision much more easily than if they only critiqued but did not work on providing the solution.

Once John accepted the work, Merlin asked, “Any other issue from lower town we must discuss today?”

When no one from the trader’s section moved forward, one old lady stood up and bowed to Merlin, “My lord….”

Merlin looked uncomfortable and he said as much, “Please don’t bow in front of me. I am not worthy of your respect. I am just a servant.”

The old lady glared at Merlin and harshly said, “Only you are worthy of our respect. We are forced to bow to the king, the prince, and the nobles. Our hearts and respect are not theirs. You, we love and we give our respect to without asking. I bow in front of you because I want to and not because I have to. We call you our lord because you are the only one who helps us. You rule our hearts and you rule our houses. Anyway, I have a request. I have placed it in front of the King thrice in the last five years and it has been continuously denied.”

Merlin politely asked, “My lady, tell me what is it you desire?”

“It is not for me. We have two wells in the lower town. One is old and the other is a newer one. The old one feeds half the population and the new one feed the rest. By noon, the water in the old well dries up and a quarter of the population either get muddy water or have to travel to the newer well which is halfway across the town.”

Arthur noticed how all members of Arthur’s council were now alert and attentively listening to the old woman. 

“I request that you help us dig a new well.”

This was impossible. Without the King’s support, there was no way Merlin could dig up a new well. The look on Merlin’s, Gwaine’s, Gwen’s and Lancelot’s faces said the same. I almost smiled. Even with all this power, Merlin needed the king to govern the lower town.

Merlin proved me right, “My lady, we do not have that type of fund to build a well.”

The old lady looked crestfallen and bowed, “My lord, I understand.”

Then Merlin surprised me, “My lady, I said I don’t have funds to dig a new well but we can maybe improve your existing well. I will work with my friends and hopefully, we will come up with an idea to upgrade the town’s existing well or find some way to transfer water from the new well to the older one without inconveniencing anyone. Give us a week or two and we would not disappoint you.”

The old lady was now beaming and she moved forward and hugged Merlin who tentatively patted her back.

After the old lady, no one from the lower town stepped forward with an issue. Then Merlin asked, “What news do we have of the villages?”

What villages? Huh!

Lancelot answered, “Of the seven villages under our protection, five sent the money. The remaining two would deliver the money during this week. We have representatives from another three villages with us today.”

There was loud applause. Villages were under Merlin’s protection? What in the world was happening?

Lancelot introduced the three village elders and their parties. They were from villages close to Camelot, two or three hours from Camelot at best.

The first elder stepped forward and bowed to Merlin as if he was bowing to a King, “My lord, I am glad to be in your presence. I know that we are a little late compared to our brother villages but there were a few stubborn people in my village who needed to be convinced.”

Merlin questioned, “Why do you want to bring your village under my care? You know the monthly collection from any village is three gold coins.”

What? That is half the tax collected by Camelot from an average village and that tax was collected on a quarterly basis while Merlin was taking it every month. The villagers would not be able to pay this monthly.

“Yes, Sire and it is worth it.”

“How do you know? I am not asking this question to be boastful but we have heard stories of our contribution that our exaggerated and we don’t want to promise anything that we can’t provide”

The first representative, John, eagerly said, “You ensure that if a farm has famine or loses their crops, they have the resources and supplies to last through the season.”

Merlin nodded, “Yes, that is how this entire thing started. A few villages lost their crops but the King decided not to consider it and still asked them for the same tax. We provided them with funds to last them through the bad crop period.”

“Yes, we know. We want the same consideration and back up. We want to ensure our children will not die if we lose our crops.”

The second representative said, “When two years ago there was a famine and we lost first the crops and then the water, no one was ready to help. The king put everyone on ration but you and your group bought crops from other countries and distributed it in your villages. You gave some help to us but those who had paid their due and ask for your patronage earlier got the maximum benefit. We lost five children to that famine but in those villages, no one has slept hungry since you took over.”

Merlin smiled at him, “Your prince made a life-altering deed to end that curse. I was there so I know one day he will lead us in the bright future. Until he can take over his duties and help his people as is his due, I will do so in his stead.”

The third representative said, “If a farmer needs funds to harvest, need seeds or has broken implements, you provide them with funds, seeds or implements. You have helped make more water channels so that those farms get better access to water and have less chance of their crops dying. Even if this money is more than the that we pay to the king, it directly benefits the villages under your protection while the money we pay to the king is gone. It does not benefit us in any way.”

The second representative said, “You will become our judges and we would only go to the king if you cannot resolve our issue.”

What? That was treason. No one other than the king or his appointed people could be the judge and jury for the cases. Why was Merlin taking on this responsibility?

Merlin nodded, “Yes. Like the servants, the nobles and royals do not pay enough attention to deal and solve the issue of the peasants in an unbiased manner thus we would be the first arbitrators. If our decision is not welcome, you can go to the king but we will support the party which agrees with our decision.”

What is this support that they keep mentioning? I must test these claims somehow otherwise I can never rely on their words. 

The first representative chimed in, “With this money, you also ensure protection for our wares and our people to and from Capital and other closeby villages.”

Why was Merlin getting the benefit of his hard work and constant vigilance? Arthur could not restrain himself, he blurted, “Is it not the prince who ensures the roads are safe?”

Sir Gwaine snorted and Merlin snickered. Lancelot the politest of the three answered, “The prince is on the stage where only fighting solves his issues. Every time we come across bandits, Arthur wants us to kill them or capture them. Incidentally, those bandits are family men, and when their father or brother goes missing someone else step forward to take his place and the bandit problem persists. Unlike Arthur, Merlin decided that we would hire the bandits for road protection. We turned the thieves into guards. They are unseen but if a villager faces issues or a hostile environment on the road, they immediately help him. As they are well paid, their family members don’t have to become bandits and any wannabe who tries to steal from their charges not only face humiliation in their home villages but also have to commit to unpaid community service for two hundred and fifty hours. So, yes the prince is trying but until he cools down and matures further, he is as much a problem as the solution in the bandit's case.”

Arthur bristled. They were calling him immature and for once Merlin did not defend him. Merlin had called Arthur immature infinite number of times before and it seemed that he knew what he was talking about. Arthur was hot-headed and believed that the solution to most of his problems laid with his sword fighting skills and here he was being told that he was immature for having this thought process.

Representative two added, “In the villages under your protection no one is allowed to become a bandit and nor do they need to as you look out for them. The number of members they lost in the last two years is half the number we lost. Our children are forced to become thieves and slave traders but if you take over, they can focus on constructive pursuits.”

Merlin nodded so he continued, “There are also rumors of you appointing apprentices from each of the villages. They study under you and Gaius and help the village people. With their presence, the sick people are better treated while the apprentices are gainfully employed. Also, you have set up a reading, writing, and counting classes in your villages. Some of your students and other trained people go there and hold classes which means that the villagers can hope for better jobs or do their job more productively.”

Merlin smiled, “Yes. Education can reduce crime rates. This is exactly what we strive for with those villages who work with us. Anything else? Something you think we should not do?”

Representative one hesitatingly said, “You deal harshly with anyone who falsely accuses another of magic and you find a way to smuggle the family who conducts magic out of Camelot or to the druids.”

Sir Lancelot sighed, “The King is not only biased against magic but unfair to anyone accused of sorcery. In the last three years, he had killed more people who were falsely accused because of petty jealousy or small scale strifes than he had killed actual sorcerers. We do not stand silent when people fabricate information to achieve petty jealousy. We try to keep the sanctity of human lives. So, in the past, if we find that a person was killed because of false evidence, we lay the same trap for the antagonist so that he feels the same pain and suffering that he caused his poor victim. A life for a life. However, if you help us and the person is a peaceful magic-user, then we would remove him or her and his or her family from Camelot so they can practice in those countries where magic is still allowed. If the magic-user has evil intentions and intends to harm Camelot or the ruling family especially Arthur then they would face the ire of all the servants and villages. We don’t take threats to Camelot lightly.”

Treason and loyalty in the same thought. Why are these people so confusing? Why can Merlin not be just a traitor or just the bumbling fool? Why does he have to be a loyal treasonous snake who was working for the betterment of Camelot and its people? Why? Oh! Why? And what was this about the king murdering non-magic users on false charges.

The three representatives nodded in agreement with Lancelot’s argument as if they knew all this beforehand.

Merlin again asked, “Any other rumor about us that you want to clarify before we finalize the treaty? We do not treat oath-breaking lightly. It is better your village not deal with us but to rescind later as the penalty of such rescinding of the contract will be heavy on your village.”

The three representatives asked many clarifying questions for another hour but the gist was the same, they would be giving the protection and safeguard in Merlin’s hand. They would pay an exorbitant amount monthly to gain said protection. However, for Arthur, the worst part was that his people did not believe the king could do just, and thus they were accepting an alternative overlord.

He watched confusedly as Gwen bought document and Merlin along with the representatives from the villages signed them and then each handed over two gold coins to Merlin.

By the time the whole meeting ended and everyone dispersed it was already 2 AM. Arthur was tired and mentally exhausted. He wished he could go and sleep in his chambers and have Merlin help him but it was not possible. He would have to sleep on a pallet with the other servants and would only have Leon for company.

\--------------- 


	5. Arthur’s POV-AD 624-Was he telling the truth?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur dares to take up the challenges set by Merlin and his group.

The next morning Regum invited Sir Hector for lunch. At lunch, Leon and Arthur filled them up with details from the meetings.

Sir Hector was in a good mood and laughed at Sir Leon’s heated commentary. At last, Regum asked, “What do you intend to do about this, sire?”

“I plan to find the truth. Merlin, Gwaine, Gwen, and Lancelot made some bold claims yesterday, now I plan to find the truth behind those claims.”

“How will you verify their claims?” Leon asked.

“I want to see how they deal with those who take benefits but refuse to return the favor. I say that Eva and Edi find some excuse for not working over the next week but refuse to assist others after the week.”

Leon eagerly agreed as he did not like doing the menial work. Then he asked, “you mentioned the trader Anthony who was against the whole thing? What if a few nobles and knights give him the push in the right direction and he tells the king about some extortion by the prince’s manservant? You would be able to find out the complete extent of control that Merlin exerts over the court.”

Hector nervously added, “I don’t want to become a party in this but for you Sire, I would suggest attending Merlin reading and writing classes. This way you will get a measure of his strengths and weaknesses. Don’t try to play illiterate as you will be caught but tell them you were taught by your previous mistress and you want to enhance your skills. He would accept it.”

Leon was shaking his head but Arthur liked the idea so he nodded, “Yes, that will work.”

Hector then added, “Also attend his arbitration sessions on Tuesdays.”

Leon immediately piped, “We can even test his claims. We will find servants and peasants who are willing to go in front of the King, his steward, and his other judges after Merlin had decided for them. This way we can provide the servants with a better alternative and they can see how Merlin is hoodwinking them.”

Arthur nodded. These plans could work.

Then Leon asked, “What about the money Merlin and his cohorts have gathered? What if they run away with so much money?”

Arthur and Hector shook their heads, “They will not run away. They have too much at stake and they are still establishing themselves.” 

Leon persevered, “They are going to invest in the cloth business? How could we know that they are not going to make bad deals with the hard-earned money of the people? What if they find ways to steal money or give it to parties who don’t deserve it during the process? There must be something we can do to stop these trades from happening.”

Hector inquired, “Why do you want to intervene when neither Merlin nor the traders want you to intervene in their financial matters?”

“It is our duty as protectors of the weak and the fools,” Leon countered.

Hector laughed, “You still think of the servants and peasants as fools when they are anything but. Merlin is charging double the tax from the villages and they are willingly giving it while the crown has to work for every copper coin that it extracts from the villages. They are not idiots. and Merlin is not fooling them. Your tone suggests your noble upbringing and, in your view, the peasants could be nothing but fools and must be saved. They are not. Observe the process and let it be. If he is indeed conning them, they would not believe you until his façade slips. Patience is the name of the game now.”

Arthur understood what Hector meant. He had observed the interaction between the traders and the literal hatred that they were spouting at Anthony, the sole voice of reason in that room.

\--------------- 

Eva and Edi arrived for Merlin’s class a bit earlier than nine. They were shocked to see that the room was overflowing with people. There must be close to fifty people who were seated in that small room. It was like a fish market. Everyone was talking in their small groups and nothing could be heard above the uproar that was created by these people.

He whispered to Leon, “This is a sham. How could anyone teach in such an environment? What would these people learn? They cannot even hear each other in this uproar let alone listen and understand the teacher.”

Leon nodded, “Yes. I told you that Merlin was a hoax. I got a bad feeling since we started investigating him.”

Arthur nodded. He also realized the same thing. Merlin was giving these classes to make the people feel important. If they did not learn anything it must be because they are the fools not that the teacher was bad.

Arthur was busy in his contemplations when everyone shushed. The door opened and Merlin entered the room as cheery as ever.

“Hello everyone. I see new people have joined us. Welcome.”

There was an answering chorus of Hi’s, Hellos, and Welcomes.

Then Merlin started talking and everyone remained quiet. No one spoke, no one interrupted him. There was no cross-talk and all the focus was on Merlin.

Merlin went to the blackboard and used chalk to write a few words. Then he asked some people to come forward and rewrite the words on the board. He continued with this exercise for ten minutes and then asked people to take out their writing instruments and start writing.

Arthur looked around as the students did exactly as their master ordered. Not even a single person hesitated. After another hour of writing exercise in which Merlin made them practice writing at least fifteen words. He also focused on their pronunciation and meaning. More than five people were asked to pronounce each word and restate each word’s meanings.

Arthur did notice some were not only writing down the word but the meaning as well. He realized that there were some advanced learners in this class. Why was Merlin teaching them these easy things? Why did he not take a separate class for the advanced learners?

After a short break, Merlin came back and goofily said, “Well, now that the boring part of the lecture has ended, let's do the fun part. Who over here can write five lines about Camelot?”

Dozens of hands raised and Merlin applauded them then he asked three people to come down and write the views about Camelot. The first one was a wee lad of fourteen. He took the chalk from Merlin and quickly wrote:

_Camelot is my home. It is a beautiful country. Camelot’s King is Uther. Camelot’s Prince is Arthur. There are many knights in Camelot._

Merlin clapped for the kid’s hard work and then asked a woman who was close to Merlin’s age to write five lines about Camelot. She wrote longer sentences and was more expressive. 

_I live in a beautiful country known as Camelot. It is ruled by King Uther and his son the crown prince Arthur. Camelot is well protected by its strong and noble knights. Camelot’s one weakness is its hard stance against magic. Camelot faces many threats from magic users who have been uprooted by the King._

“Bravo, my lady. Elena, you have done a marvelous job. I knew you could do it. Now, old man Mikel has been quiet for a few sessions. Let’s see how he portrays our country.”

An old man, the twice the age of the king, stepped forward and took the chalk:

_Once I lived in a beautiful country where all was at peace. The kind old king supported his people and magic prospered in all corners of Camelot. Then the kind, just King Unair died and the crown prince took over. He was ruthless but he was tampered by the beautiful Lady Ygraine. Together they would have ruled in peace and brought more prosperity to the kingdom but the fates had other plans. Queen Ygraine died leaving behind a merciless killer of foes and friends and this young prince with a stick in his back. Now I live in a beautiful country where nothing is at peace._

“Sorry, Merlin. Could not stop me’ self. It is more than five lines.”

Merlin grinned at him, “But it is heartfelt. Beautiful. I know I will make a bard out of you. Now that was the revision of last week. Now, this week we will discuss one of Camelot’s knights. I want your opinion on this personality and I will write everything on the board. Okay, let’s talk about Sir Leon. Who can tell me anything about him? Let’s start with the children.”

Arthur glanced at Leon who was more attentive now.

One girl squealed, “He is handsome.”

Merlin wrote the three words on the board and made everyone read them twice before he asked them to copy them.

Another child said, “He is the first-knight of Camelot.”

“He is loyal.”

The children gave smaller sentences and Merlin dutifully write them and made them repeat the sentences.

After the children the opened the floor to everyone. That is when Arthur realized that these people knew more about Leon than even, he did.

One girl stood up and said, “He is a softie. He has a crush on Lady Elfie but would never be able to gather the strength to approach her.”

I again glanced at Leon who was now white. I coughed and he turned to me and then school his features.

One boy haughtily said, “It has nothing to do with strength and everything to do with Sir Morholt. Sir Leon is equally enamored by him and doesn’t want to give up his dalliance to start a life with Lady Elfie. If anything, I think he is a fool. Why would he give up someone as nice as Sir Morholt for shrewd and vain lady Elfie? They would marry and Sir Leon would realize his mistake and then he would go back begging forgiveness from his one true love, Sir Morholt. Why can men not see that they can love the members of the same sex with as much passion? Fools. I tell you. And Merlin, write all of that.”

Many people started snickering and a few girls blushed but Arthur realized that his people accepted the relationship between Sir Morholt and Sir Leon and were against the proper relation he wanted to have for the society. Also, he realized that the servants and peasants think of them as fools.

Merlin dutifully writes everything but then coughed, “That is enough about his love life. I want to know your views about his character?”

Many people had good things to say about Leon but then one woman stood up and said, “Why are we exonerating one of the weakest knights in Camelot? And I don’t mean his fighting skills, he may be a champion after the prince but he is the weakest in character. He is a yes-man. He does not even have a single original thought. He is a follower and that is all his merit. He will never question an order. He will kill his own wife and kids if the king ordered. He doesn’t uphold the knight’s code. His only code of life is following the King’s and prince’s orders. He is a lapdog and nothing more. I would trust some of the crueler knights to him as they still as some individuality.”

Merlin looked sternly at the woman and sighed, “Mary, I feared you would say that. We all know that if Sir Leon had helped your family and not done the King’s bidding of going after the criminals, many people would have been saved on that fateful night.” 

He dutifully wrote all that. Then he turned for another opinion but a man stood up, “But is it not the knight’s code to help the weak. If they had helped us that night, many of our parents would have been alive today. Mary is right in saying Sir Leon does not live by the knight’s code. He never helps the weak unless the King orders it. Merlin, why did he not help you when Ragum and his men were hitting you? Why did he stood aloof and ignored us? He was the senior knight and could have stopped everything. But he would never create lines of dissent in the knights for the peasants. He would prefer to look away.”

Merlin weakly said, “Maybe he did not realize what was happening.” However, he wrote that as well.

From there it was more character assassination. Everyone of Leon’s fault, actual or implied, that the people could think about was presented for all to see. It was bad. Very bad. It was akin to a dam being broken and those same people who were calling him loyal were insinuating that he was only loyal to the crown. Those who said that he was smart now implied that he was only smart as far as getting into the pants of the prince were involved.

At the end of the two-hour session, the only thing that was unanimously decided was that Sir Morholt was the only good thing about Sir Leon. Then people started drifting out and only the advanced level students were left.

Eva and Edi left with the other servants and peasants. Arthur wanted to comfort Leon who was now tight-lipped. Once they were in Regum’s room, Leon hissed, “I knew there were people there but the King said that he would send someone else to help them. How was I to know that the King would never send anyone to help the people? I shoulder the burden of their death. I know I am responsible for the death of those twenty people as much as the King and the criminals. But it hurts hearing it from the people.”

Arthur softly said, “I know. They were rude.”

“But they were correct.”

Arthur asked, “Were they correct in insinuating that you let Regum beat Merlin and did not intervene?”

Leon sighed, “Yes. Lord Goloris is an important ally. His son was only roughing up a servant. What harm was there in it?”

Arthur cringed, “Yes, what harm?”

Leon shouted, “Thank you, sire. It is bad enough that all the people see in me is a weakling. Gwaine, the drunkard, who none of the knight’s respect and is a jester, is the people’s idol. They would die for him but they would not give me water if it comes to it. Do you think your disgust can add anything to it? I am disgusted by myself.”

He turned and left the room. Arthur stood there as this was the first time Leon had shouted. Previously he had never even raised his voice in Arthur’s company.

Arthur silently contemplated. Why did Merlin have to discuss Leon today of all days? Was he onto them? Had he identified Arthur again? 

\--------------- 

By next morning Leon was back and seemed okay. When Arthur tried to resurrect the topic, he gave him a cold shoulder but acted normal otherwise.

When Hector and Regum joined them to learn about their experience of the class, Arthur was unsure what to say. Leon came to the rescue, “Merlin was a good teacher. He bought out a topic that would interest everyone and then used it to teach them new words, writing, and reading. He involved his pupil and I am sure they would remember whatever they wrote and thus would be able to replicate it again. If nothing else, I believe he is teaching those peasants.”

After another hour of dissection of the entire class, Hector asked, “So Saturday is meeting day, Sunday is class, what is on Monday night?”

Leon and Arthur looked at each other and then Leon uncertainly said, “Don’t know. I should ask the cook.”

He left and returned an hour later. Hector and Regum had left but Arthur was waiting for him.

Leon muttered, “Your servant is mad. He works for you throughout the day and then from 9 Pm to 2 AM every day he is working with the servants and peasants. Monday is the record day which means today they will be balancing their coffer, evaluate the time credits trends, and so on. They assign volunteer duties and pay people for last week's volunteer work. The bandits and other people on their payroll are also paid on Monday. Tuesday is for arbitrations. Wednesday is for teaching again. Thursday is fun and drinking and on Friday he teaches his apprentices.”

Arthur was also bewildered by this. When did Merlin have time to sleep?

\---------- 

As there was no reason for Eva and Edi to attend Monday’s record meeting, Arthur and Leon started planning the second step of their infiltration. They visited Anthony the trader. They just wore simple knight cloaks and armor to hide their identity until they were in Anthony’s shop. Then Leon removed his helmet and ordered, “Close your shop.”

Anthony hurried to do the Knights bidding. Then Arthur removed his helmet. Immediately Anthony bowed and queried, “My lord, how can I help you?”

Leon inquired, “We have heard rumors that you are against the servant run organization that is extorting money from traders.”

Anthony bobbed his head, “Yes, Sire.”

“Then you won't mind making a formal complaint to the King. You will name only my manservant and that he is making a monthly demand of twenty-five silver coins from all traders in the lower town.”

“Yes, indeed sire. I would gladly help.”

After setting some more rules, Arthur and Leon left. They trusted Anthony to do their work. Arthur was not worried about Merlin as Arthur would save him but he wanted to see who else conspired with Merlin.

\----------

The next morning, Eva and Edi went to the petition room where King Uther was listening to petitions. Usually, the room was filled by servants, peasants, and traders who wanted to present one or the other request to the kings. Over time, the number of cases bought to the king had decreased and Lord Mathias often took the credit. If the servants were well-behaved, they would not fight and would not come to the King with their petty issues. Arthur knew better now.

They knew that Anthony would make his petition. The King would listen to him and then the King would ask his guards to bring Merlin to put his side of the story on any given day in the subsequent week. Merlin would present his story and then be given time to bring any witness which will take another week or two. Arthur expected that within these two weeks, he will find out all the people who would intervene on Merlin’s behalf.

He waited patiently until Anthony stepped forward. There were not many cases before him and the King was in a good mood.

Anthony requested after bowing, “My lord, I ask you for help.”

“What happened?” the Scribe asked.

“Sire, a person is blackmailing the trader’s community of Camelot. He is in a position of slight power in the citadel and the royal household. He is close to the prince. He is asking that all the traders in Camelot give him twenty-five silver coins per month.”

“Preposterous. Who has the audacity to ask such a sum from everyone? My nobles don’t take bribes.”

“My lord, he is not a noble but a servant.”

“What is his name?”

“Merlin, Sire.”

Arthur knew that something changed in the room. While earlier the other servants and peasants were casual now, they were alert. All whispering had stopped and some of them were glaring at Anthony.

Despite all protocol, one trader openly laughed. The King glared at him and said, “You want to add anything to the accusation bought forward?”

The trader boldly stepped forward and said, “Yes, Sire. I do. My name is Greene and I have been a cloth trader in Camelot for fourteen years. Anthony here is telling a lie and most of the people in the lower town know the reason. He is defaming an innocent person to save himself from the pyre.”

Anthony spurted, “That is not true?”

The king was now intrigued and asked Greene, “What do you know? Tell me everything?”

“Sire, Anthony has been in Capital for two months. During these two months, he has hassled many of his customers. He cheats. He measures fewer goods and then he dares to not return the change to his customers. There were at least five complaints against him in the trader’s guild over the last week alone. You can ask Archie and he will support my claims. Furthermore, everyone in the lower town knows about the altercations between Anthony and the Princess manservant. While Selina the cobbler and I were the only witness of the entire event, others also saw Merlin leaving his shop in anger. I remember when Merlin accused him of cheating and sorcery to make his customers plaint and extract more money out of them. He said that the shop was filled with an aura that dumbs the senses. He told him that he will bring the prince to his shop and the Prince will correct the injustice. I believe Anthony is here to blame Merlin and get him out of the picture before the prince return.”

One of the castle servants moved forward and bowed, “My lord, I made a complaint against Anthony two weeks earlier. I went into his shop with a full pouch. I had just collected my salary from Lord Mathias and wanted to buy ration for the month. However, when I left his shop, I had spent half my money and only had ration for a week. I was distraught. I did not buy any luxury and I don’t know why I bought the same goods for double their price. I went back to Anthony’s shop and he pacified me talking all the bullshit about his good being of better quality. I complained to the trader’s guild that night.”

Another peasant moved forward, “Sire, I too made a complaint. I had ten silver coins when I entered his shop and I left with two. I only bought a maple syrup and some oats which should not cost more than three coins and if they were of very good quality then maybe four coins.”

Arthur was confused and Anthony was looking in shock as another man stepped forward and made a similar accusation. Within minutes the case had turned. These people had thoroughly destroyed Anthony’s credibility and until the King ascertain the events, he could not start the case against Merlin. Arthur realized that Anthony would not be able to work in the lower town if the King found him guilty.

King Uther looked between Anthony and those who were shifting the blame to Anthony. The King ordered his guards to search Anthony’s shop. Arthur was confident that they would not find anything so he stood in his corner and waited.

The King moved on other petitions while two guards retained Anthony and took him out of the room. Anthony was shouting for the King to have mercy on him and to do justice for him. An hour later, the guards returned and said, “Sire, there were scented candles placed in every corner of his shop. They gave out a smell but we do not know if it is sorcery or these are just simple candles.”

The King growled, “Prepare the pyre. This fraud will burn tonight. The people should know that sorcery and magic could harm them in any way and this certainly is another.”

Arthur looked in horror at the King. He was going to put an innocent person on the pyre just because someone fabricated the testimony.

Then the King shouted, “Bring me the Prince’s manservant.”

Fifteen minutes later, Merlin was dragged into the court. Merlin was confused and before he could speak, the King barked, “You had evidence of sorcery and you did not make a formal complaint. You should be found guilty of conspiring with the sorcerer but given your mental affliction and your loyalty to the prince, I sentence you to a day in the stock followed by two days in a dungeon. Next time you will report any such incidence to me immediately. I am your king.”

Merlin was spluttering but the guards took him away and I wanted to cry. The true traitor was just getting a day in the stock while an innocent man was going to be burned on the pyre. The prince could not stomach this injustice and left the room in a daze.

He needed to help Anthony but he was not sure what he could do. He ran towards Sir Hector’s office and told him everything that happened in the court. Sir Hector sighed and said, “I told you this would happen. I told you Merlin had more power than you think. We just did not believe that all of this would happen so fast.”

Arthur nodded, “Yes. Now, what should we do for Anthony?”

“Sire, he will be under heavy guard and there is no reasoning with the king when he has made up his mind on sorcery.”

“But Anthony is innocent.”

“Yes, Sire. But others were killed because of fabricated evidence. We all know how the king is in this regard. You know Merlin and his group warned the newcomers about the fabrication of evidence and false accusations for this primary reason. The king does not give time for the accused to plead his case.”

“But I convinced him to go to the king,” Arthur deadpanned.

“Yes, sire but he should have known better.”

“There was no way for him to know this would happen. I knew I would be able to save Merlin but never planned on something like this happening to Anthony. I need to do something.”

“What do you suggest we do?”

“I will break him free from prison and tell him to leave Camelot.”

Hector sighed and agreed to help him. Leon also joined them and they started planning how to break free Anthony. They were still planning when the cities warning bells started. Hector immediately left and came back an hour later.

“Good news, Sire. Anthony has broken free and is no more in the King’s custody. I will be leading a patrol to capture him. I can assure you that he will not be caught again.”

Then he bowed and left while Arthur and Leon heaved a sigh of relief.

\------------

Hours later, Leon asked, “Sire, there is another arbitration session we need to attend. In the absence of Merlin, I don’t know if there will be a meeting tonight, but we must go and see who else is involved.”

Arthur nodded. Yes, they should. One bad move should not stop him from revealing the entire treasonous coup that Merlin had planned.

That night, they went back to the tavern room that seemed to be under Merlin’s use perpetually. There were many people gathered in the room and everyone was gossiping. Fifteen minutes later, Merlin entered the room. He looked haggard and trussed up but he had a seriousness on his face which did not fit. Gwaine, Lancelot, and Gwen were with him.

How did he get out? I thought he was sentenced to two days in the dungeons? Who lets him out? Which of the guards were a part of this conspiracy?

Without any preamble, he barked, “Greene, Sophia, and Eliza while you have my thanks for protecting me in the court so efficiently, you also fabricated evidence against Anthony putting blame on magic. You know our cardinal rule, those who falsely accuse others of sorcery will suffer the same fate. However, we were lucky and I saved Anthony and his family. As we speak, they are being smuggled to Mercia. To help them, I bought all his assets and now his business is jointly owned by us. So, after everything has gone so splendidly and no one was hurt, I have decided to reduce your punishment. All three of you will spend twenty-five hours in community service. You will help your brethren and the community. I am punishing you as I want everyone to realize that playing with others' lives even if it is to save me is not tolerable.”

Did Merlin help Anthony? Anthony accused Merlin yet he helped his accuser while he was punishing those who stood for him. Why was Merlin so contrary?

Then Merlin turned to the leader of the trader’s guild, Archie, “Archie find someone to run Anthony’s shop for us. Now everyone has an interest in that shop and we must ensure it is properly staffed and turns a profit for us.”

Archie nodded in agreement, “I will find trained people to handle it.”

“Now, I have another two hours before they miss me in the dungeons, so we must be quick. We had fifteen cases that needed to be dealt with tonight. Three of them are urgent while the remaining could be postponed till next week. I hope you don’t mind the inconvenience.”

Most of the people nodded in understanding and no one questioned him.

Then Gwen stepped forward, “The first case is about the ownership of a cow. Farmer John claims it is his as he fed it and looked after it. Farmer James claims ownership as he never sold the cow to John in the first place. The cow just followed the wrong herd and it has taken James about a year to track down his missing animal.”

The two farmers presented all the evidence. To Arthur, it was a clear case of misunderstanding. The cow belonged to James and John did not have any right to it.

Merlin after some contemplation ventured, “The cow belongs to James. However, John had taken care of it, housed it, and fed it for the last year. While James can take custody of the cow, he must give the first offspring of the cow to John as a payment for his services for the last year.”

James did not look happy but relented and agreed to give the next calf the cow birthed to John.

Then Gwen presented the next case, it too was a custody case over animals and Merlin handed the hens to the rightful owner.

The third case Gwen presented was a bit more challenging, “The final case, we will review today is about a sale deed between trader Gotham and customer Rive. Rive lives in a village a day’s ride from Camelot and he bought the pots he made to sell in Camelot. He sold the pots and earned fifteen silver coins. He paid two coins for food and grains. He then took them to Trader Gotham’s shop and bought some goods worth ten silver coins. He handed the entire pouch to the trader and then left without taking back the remaining money. He realized his folly a few hours later but he had already returned to his village. He came back for his coins the next day but Trader Gotham refused and told him that there were only ten coins in the pouch.”

Then Merlin made both Gotham and Rive reminisce about the day as best as they could. He asked Rive some questions about his route and his other trading habits. Then he asked Rive about his family life and even inquired what he had for breakfast the day he came back to Camelot again. Arthur did not see much sense in the whole series of questions but after about thirty questions, Merlin gave out the verdict, “Rive is at fault over here. He forgot that he bought food and grain while clearing the account for last week’s purchases when he was sick. Thus he paid the extra two coins and was would only have eleven coins in his pouch. Trader Gotham may not have counted the coin and sufficed at the weight and thus he did not felt it odd that Rive left without the change. Thus Gotham is going to return one silver coin.”

Rive looked embarrassed and Gotham was happy. He immediately paid one silver coin to Rive and left. How did Merlin realize that Rive had cleared his account? Rive never said so and there was no such information given in all the questioning.

“I must run now. Dungeon duty. See you next week and I once again apologize for the inconvenience. You are free to discuss your cases with Gwen, Gwaine, and Lancelot.”

Then Merlin sprinted off. Arthur heard and old lady lament, “He is too good for the King and the prince. Whenever something goes wrong, they throw Merlin in the stocks or dungeons. What was Merlin’s fault? A sniveling bastard cried wolf to the king and he had to punish the poor boy.”

Another supplied, “And the prince he loves is no good. I wish Merlin would marry my daughter but he loves the idiot prince who will never see the best thing that is in front of his eyes. Always chasing after beautiful but vain girls like Princess Vivianne and Lady Sophia. I fear what would happen of Camelot with a queen like that.”

A third laughed, “Who cares what shallow queen the prince gets us? We have Merlin and as long as he stands beside the prince, I will consider him as the prince’s consort and be happy about it. A peasant can dream.”

“Dream on. It would never happen. The prince is a fool. He will never see Merlin’s good heart and other attributes.” The first one chaffed, “Merlin to the stocks when he should have been saying, Merlin in the bed now.”

The three ladies laughed and left the room. Arthur was looking at their retreating backs stricken. They wanted him to make Merlin his consort. What madness was this? He had never even looked at Merlin in that way. Merlin was his manservant and nothing more. Well, may he was Arthur’s friend but there was nothing deeper than that. How could he? Well, he liked girls. He did and many girls were not vain. From the looks of it, Gwen was as powerful as Merlin and the people idolized her. Why should she not be his queen? The people were so confusing.

He casually approached Gwen.

“Eva, it is so good to see you participating in our activities. We appreciate the support everyone shows us.”

“Thank you, Gwen. I was wondering if you could tell me why Merlin is the judge? When he left, you could have proceeded with the arbitrations under your leadership.”

“Oh, no. I could not. We found out that Merlin had a knack for this thing. He just knows what was happening in each case and how to lead them. When we started, Gwaine and Lancelot were the first choices for magistrate positions, later I and Merlin tried to pick up some slack. Soon we found out that the people were most satisfied with Merlin as judge and since then he had taken the first chair. We hear the cases and fill Merlin prior to the actual discussion. This way Merlin can ponder on the cases beforehand.”

“So Merlin is somewhat better than the rest of you in making judgments. This does not mean that the rest of you give up.”

“Who said we gave up? We are now Merlin’s apprentices. We learn from him and then we have our days of court. The more confusing cases are sent to Merlin but the simpler ones are handled by us. You surely don’t think that Merlin alone can solve all the fights between all the servants of the citadel, the traders and locals of the lower town, and fifteen villages in just one night. Gwaine holds court on Saturday, Lancelot hears the cases on Wednesday and I am available on Friday to resolve their issues.”

So, they held their courts on the day's Merlin was teaching.

“Do you work from 9 PM to 2 AM every night of the week?”

“No. We work six nights and on the seventh we have fun.”

“Does it not affect your primary work? You guys barely have time to sleep.”

She cheerfully said, “You don’t know how many people in Camelot work extra hours. Its called empathy. We want to make the lives of our fellow humans easier and we know the King and his nobles don’t give a rat’s ass about us. It is best if we work for ourselves.”

“Don’t the prince care?”

“He does. Merlin assures us he does but Merlin also says that Arthur is a child. He will take a few more years to grow up. He has started maturing but…”

“But?” Eva/Arthur curiously asked.

“Ummm… I should not be saying it but let's say the prince is entitled. The only commoner he cares about is Merlin and he does not even do justice by Merlin.”

“What did he do to Merlin?”

“Merlin is primarily Arthur’s responsibility but Arthur is not ready to take that responsibility. You have any idea how many knights bullied Merlin? Almost every last one of them. But what did Arthur do? Nothing. He lets it happen. Merlin is a servant and should be proud that Arthur’s knights are gracing him with their presence, even if it was negative attention.”

“Maybe Arthur did not know?”

“Oh, he knows. That is what I said he is immature. You know the way he watched Merlin at feasts and other times, it's like the moon hangs from him but would he stand up for Merlin or stop being an arrogant prat for a minute to dissect his feelings: No. In the end, he will rationalize that his feelings for Merlin are just platonic concern for his best friend. Until he knows what he is feeling, he will try to keep himself shielded from Merlin and thus would not stand up for Merlin until there is some probability Merlin would die. Then he would go to the end of the world and back to save Merlin.”

“But the prince surely care about the other people of Camelot?”

“Yes. He does. He cares about his knights and he is most helpful to the peasants but we don’t exist for him except for our duties in his household. You know he does not even go over the salary roster of the servants and give full freedom to Lord Mathias. Lord Mathias can do anything with the servants and no one would care, not even our prince. You know Lord Mathias and Moris don’t like Merlin so for the last two years they have not increased his salary and Arthur approves it. If he does not stand up for Merlin, why will he stand up for me or the others? Everyone who is seen associating with Merlin gets fewer increments compared to those who are not associated with us.”

“That cannot be. Surely someone would have complained.”

“Yes. We did complain. The prince’s answer was that he had complete trust in Lord Mathias' abilities and his unbiased decision making. Its little shock that the confidence Merlin has in him is not shared by others. Merlin does try to overcompensate us for the prince’s weaknesses. So, we are waiting and hopefully one day the ugly duckling will become a beautiful swan.”

“What if the prince does not mature as you say it?”

“Well, we have something good that is going on here. As long as the King and Prince keep ignoring us we will make something for ourselves. You should sometime sit down and talk to Merlin. He is revolutionary. He has so many ideas and he is open to new ones. Even without the king's support, we are taking measures that in a few years our salaries would start increasing. As long as we have Merlin, the people in Camelot can be happy.”

“Do you think Merlin would ever try to overthrow the royal family and take over?”

“He would die before he hurts Arthur. The idiot is besotted. I have not seen a worse case before. He is completely in love with the prince. Merlin keeps himself so busy that he does not have to be jealous of Arthur’s affairs. Merlin is better-off without Arthur and hopefully, Uther will marry him to some princess. Then we can direct Merlin’s love towards Gwaine.”

“Gwaine loves Merlin?”

“Oh, yes. He too is besotted but until Arthur marries Merlin will not give the time of day to someone else. We know he will never come between the royal couple even if their relationship is truly platonic so we can wield him to fall for Gwaine. They will be happy together. Gwaine would protect Merlin as Merlin protects the people of Camelot.”

“But that is the King’s and prince’s duty?”

“We would prefer if they engage in their hunts and their parties and forget about us. We will readily pay their taxes if we don’t have anything to do with them. With the system in place, we don’t need them much.”

“That is treason.”

“Say what you want. I hope you never have to be brought in front of the king as he is blind. He accused me of sorcery because my father got better in a plague. Preposterous. They exist and we are happy as long as they remain too drunk to think.”

“But they are seldom drunk.”

“I’ll share a conspiracy with you. I am trying to convince Merlin to agree with me. What if we don’t water the ale too much. Soon the nobles will be nothing but drunks and will sleep through the day. I doubt we can convince Merlin to follow this until Arthur blunders. I just hope that Arthur shows his true colors soon but I fear Merlin’s eyes won't open until Arthur is the king and Merlin is dismissed to the sidelines. Then when all is going to the cows, I will convince him of my idea and soon we will take some form of control.”

“This is treason. You will be hanged if someone found out.”

“I will be hanged for my role in this venture. I have accepted my slot. I will serve the people until the day I die. How I die, when I die and by whose hands? Those are pretty irrelevant questions.”

“Are you not afraid you will be caught? What if your work if someone snitches on you?”

Gwen gave him a conspiring smile, “Just a secret that I will divulge, none of us will be harmed even if we are caught. First Merlin would get us as many chances of fair hearing and even if we are convicted, Merlin will get us out of the King’s clutches.”

“That is ridiculous. No one can free you from the King’s dungeons?”

“I wonder why there has been an increase in breakouts in the last two years. Just to make myself clear, the king has only been able to punish those whom Merlin did not support. Only those sorcerers who were a threat to Camelot were not provided aid. Anyone with the clear intention of harming someone in Camelot was not provided aid but everyone else was given one chance. Some were smuggled out of the country, others were given a new identity and still others who were just located to another part of the country.”

Arthur hissed. Merlin was the reason for his extra work. He and his knights went after one criminal after another who had broken out of the jail. None of them were caught which was demoralizing for him and his men. No wonder the servants were getting so bold. What should he do about this parallel government? He could not let this continue. He would be a dummy king if things continued in the same trend.

\-------------

That night, he asked Leon and Hector, “How did Merlin leave the dungeons. He was openly flaunting our rules and no one was there to stop him. I want to know how many guards are on his payroll or how many guards are loyal to him? There is no way this thing can continue any further. He is flaunting a bit too many of our rules and the other servants are getting bolder.”

Hector seriously asked, “What do you plan to do about all this?”

“I want to know the name of all guards who help Merlin in his breakouts. Merlin is not the only exception but others have helped him. Go over all the duty rosters and look for trends. Are there some guards who are on duty when Merlin strikes? Interview everyone but I want a list of all the traitors.”

Hector asked, “So, you have decided that they are traitors? Are you going to hand everyone including Merlin to the King?”

“I am not sure yet, what I will do, but I want to know everyone associated with this scam. Even if I don’t tell everything to the King, I want to be sure about the loyalty of my men. Leon and Hector, I want you guys to interview every guard and Knight of Camelot and find out who amongst them are loyal to Merlin. Also, try to find out how many of them have a soft spot for this conspiracy even though they have yet not participated in their treasonous activities.”

Hector sighed, “That is a tall order. Many guards have families in the lower town and would know about the conspiracy and may even be paying the ten silver coin Merlin-tax. In which category will you dub these people? Some guards are married to the servants which means that they would be in the know about the servant conspiracy even if they don’t know about all the details.”

“Then make a list of everyone who lives in the lower town, has family in the lower town, who is married to a servant, who is married to a lord or lady who favors Merlin’s conspiracy and so on. I want the names of everyone who is associated with this conspiracy. Leon finds out which servants are involved and which have refrained from joining Merlin?”

“Yes, Sire.” Both the knights bowed aware that Arthur would not accept any argument and would prefer if he has all the information. Hector was satisfied that Arthur was not condemning the whole conspiracy and not handing over Merlin to Uther on a silver platter. Leon was not sure what to think. His belief in his self-worth and self-image had taken a severe beating and he had not been able to adjust his world view again.

Leon inquired, “Sire, are we going to test the claims about Lord Mathias. I am sure Lord Mathias would have made a better decision compared to Merlin in today’s case and he would have awarded the cow to farmer James and given a token amount for care to farmer John which would have been a fairer decision. Maybe if we can convince James to take his conflict to your father’s court, we can prove to the people that the King is wiser than the manservant and makes better decisions.”

Arthur promptly nodded, “That is indeed a good idea. Also, let's ask Gwen if someone can take our work shifts for the next three days. It's about time we accepted Sir Gwaine’s challenge.”

\---------------

Convincing Farmer James was much more difficult than convincing Anthony. Arthur and Leon were surprised that the peasant was not turned into a mumbling mess as soon as Arthur entered the discussion.

“Sire, I will lose face in my village if I go against Merlin’s decision,” James prompted.

“But you will get a better deal and then you can tell the people that the king’s made a better decision than Merlin,” Leon argued.

James looked uncertain but when the Prince and first knight force them on a peasant, he must bow, “Sire, I will do it. However, I ask that you will pay all the penalty that the king imposes if I lose.”

Arthur scoffed, “Its unlikely that you will win but in case you lose, I will bear all financial burden.”

James was not happy but agreed to take his case to court on the next petitioner’s day.

\-------------

In the meantime, Gwen approved their request and Eva’s and Edi’s work was switched with other servants of Camelot. Leon and Arthur were happy that they had another three work-free days and they will not have to engage in menial tasks.

During these three days, they planned to visit the villages under Merlin’s protection and convince a few of them to renegade on their deal with Merlin.

This proved to be a difficult task so they sent a letter to Gwen and requested her to get another two days free.

\-------------

Arthur, Leon, and Hector reconvened in Hector’s office after five days. All of them were happy with the progress they had made during the last few days.

Leon happily said, “We found another three people who were not happy with Merlin’s decisions. They should have won their cases but Merlin made them share the burden. It took some haggling but they will be presenting their cases to the King tomorrow. Tomorrow the mirage the people have about Merlin’s capability to judge cases will be shattered and Merlin will lose some of his power.”

While Arthur and Leon conspiringly laughed, Hector looked unconvinced.

“Hector, loosen up. You know we cannot allow Merlin to yield such power. He is going against the crown,” Arthur admonished the senior knight.

“He is indeed but it is not hurting anyone.”

“It is affecting the king as his rule is bought in question, Merlin is usurping the power and loyalty from the royal family and this cannot be allowed.”

Hector bowed his head and nodded in agreement.

“What news do you have? Did you find out which guards let Merlin go from the dungeon?” Arthur inquired.

“Sire, it's confusing. None of them claim to know anything and almost all of them promise that Merlin was in his cell throughout the day,” Hector defeatedly confessed.

“How is that possible? I saw Merlin in his court while he should have been in the dungeons,” Arthur questioned.

“Sire, there was no information from the guards but maybe I might have missed something and you might want to take the interviews again.”

“I would once I am officially back in Camelot. For the time being, I will accept your findings.”

“Thank you, Sire. Now the other thing you asked me is complete. I have a list of all the relations between the guards and the servants, nobles, the peasants from the lower town, and even the villagers from the villages associated with Merlin.”

He then provided Arthur with the lists as well as the guard duty roster for the last year with the time when a criminal escaped from the dungeons clearly marked.

Arthur prompted, “Are there any trends, any guards who were often there when the breakout happened?”

“No, sire. There are no such trends. The breakout happened irrespective of time or the guards on duty. One thing is for sure that the guards are not shirking their duties.”

“Then how is it possible? How is Merlin leaving the dungeons without being noticed and how are we losing criminals when no guards are involved?”

Now Hector looked a bit apprehensive, “Sire, I did not say, they were not involved. I just said that they were not shirking their duty. They were there and they were actively working but sometimes they just left a bit of blind space. When I questioned them, it was very interesting? I used two recent examples: Anthony and Merlin. I asked the guards to tell me their exact location when the breakout happened or when Merlin was supposedly out of the cell. Individually there was no fault but collectively we have an issue. Look at this. This is the guard movement from 8:55 PM to 10:00 PM last Tuesday.”

Arthur and Leon stepped forward to look at the guard movement charts and the Leon howled, “They created a blind spot over Merlin’s cell. They moved around it but no one came close to Merlin’s cell and as per the comments the criminal of the other opposite side of the cell was creating so much ruckus that when they passed Merlin’s cell they were focused on the fight. It’s not the guards but the other criminals who are responsible for this. They distract the guards and make ensure that Merlin had his two hours respite.”

Arthur nodded, “What about Anthony’s escape?”

“The same thing happened. Three fights broke up some furniture was thrown but by the time it all settled Anthony was gone.”

“So, the guards are not involved?” Leon happily reconfirmed.

Hector sighed, “This is the grey area and I am hypothesizing that some guards are involved. They tell the plan to the criminals so they create the distraction at the appointed time. I think guards from two shifts are involved. The first one tells them the details and the second shift guard gives the signal.”

“So, you mean there is at least one guard in each shift who is not faithful,” Arthur shouted.

“No, Sire. Some are an unwilling and unknowing accomplice,” Hector deadpanned.

“How can you say that?”

“Sire, guard duty is boring and for eons, they take on bets to make it more interesting. The bets are diverse. They range from throwing one’s serving bowl on the ground at a particular time to harassing a certain prisoner. These are common practices and these bets are made daily so no one questions them. I came to realize that the signal from the second shift guard is mostly an activity that alerts the other prisoner. So, I believe some of them are just hapless individuals who are spicing up their day and not colluding with the criminal snatchers.”

Leon muttered, “This is confusing. How do we separate the fools from the traitors?”

Hector sighed, “When I interviewed them, except for one older guard who clearly told me to stick with what I do best and not involve myself in the lives of the peasants, everyone else claimed ignorance. When I questioned him, he said that everyone was satisfied so there is no reason to dig past the superfluous. Thus, they would not deliberately incriminate themselves.”

Arthur picked up the lists that Hector had diligently made, “They won’t but we know their association and if we question them about the activity of their family members, they might blurt something out. At the very least, we assume all these men are compromised.”

Leon sighed, “That is about three-quarters of Camelot’s guards. It would be problematic to work with only a quarter of the guards.”

“Hector, next time we have a criminal who you think has an iota of possibility of escaping our clutches, you will use these un-associated guards. Ensure that they do not participate in any bets and try to keep the other prisoners in control. Personally, look into these matters as Camelot’s knights and guards cannot take further tarnishing of their image or ego.”

“Yes, Sire. I will do my best.”

\---------------

Arthur was happy when the four farmers including James who he had convinced to present their case in front of the king were present on the next petitioner’s day. They were assigned to different judges and their cases would be heard within the week.

Even though Arthur was assured the judges would do their job properly, he went when Lord Kay held court. Farmer James and farmer john were presenting their case about the custody of the cow. He asked them some pertinent questions and then before he could pronounce his decision, Lady Murdock who was standing with the other nobles laughed and stepped forward. It was not unusual for other nobles to give their feedback and analysis during a case so lord Kay politely asked for her opinion on the case.

“Sire, my late husband heard a similar case. One farmer used to send his cows with other herders and claimed them after some period. The other farmers would take care of his animals and he would get fattened up cows. He really made a huge ruckus when one of his cows was slaughtered by the new caretaker. My husband decided the case in favor of the new caretaker. He reasoned that if the farmer could not keep track of his animals and then not reclaim within half a month then he has essentially given up ownership to a new master or that the animal has chosen a new master. I think farmer James is lying when he claims it took him a month to find where his animal was. He found an opportunity to get fattened up cow without using his own resources and if today you benefit him, he will repeat the process again and again.”

After some pondering, Lord Kay pronounced, “Indeed you are right, my dear lady. It seems like Farmer James has indeed stepped on a golden opportunity and is trying to check the waters.”

Arthur was looking at Farmer James who looked unabashed and resigned however, he was not tense.

Lord Kay continued, “Farmer John will retain the custody of the cow however he will pay father James thirty silver coins within the next month.”

Farmer John was extremely happy as he would be getting a grown-up cow at half its price however the other farmer who Arthur had backed has lost the case. How was it possible? How did they lose something as straightforward as this case? 

Once outside the chamber, he approached farmer James and gave him one gold coin, “I am sorry for your problems. I really believed you would win.”

“I would have if Merlin was not supporting John. Merlin did make a fair decision. He gave me my cow but also penalized me for my shoddy work.”

Farmer James left but Arthur stood gawking at him. He wanted to show that his father’s nobles were better judges but ended up driving the party more deeply into Merlin’s pockets.

\------------ 

Over the next three days, all four peasants whom Arthur had sent to his father’s judges lost. They were given stiff penalties where they should have been the clear winners. Arthur realized, in two cases, that just before the judges decided the outcome of the case, some nobleman or knight would give their opinion changing the framework. In the other two, the witnesses brought forward by the accused character assassinated the defendant and the judge could not in their right mind award the case to the defendant. As promised Arthur paid all the punitive damages but his ego took a beating. He had lost to his manservant who had outsmarted him.

The only way he could win was if he or someone loyal to him conveys the counter opinion before the judge presented the final decision but he could not enter into that territory as he did not know which of the accused were supported by Merlin. He would be unfairly rigging the judgments if he provided his support in cases that were unallied to Merlin.

\----------

On Thursday, Arthur and Leon were ready to have a night off when Gwen approached them, “Eva, Edi, I hope you had a pleasant visit to your hometown. One of our maids has a date and she wants time off today from 7 PM to 9 PM. Would one of you be able to take over for her.”

Both shook their heads in tandem, “We will not be able to as Lord Regum had already assigned us tasks which will need our attention till late at night.”

“No problem. I will find someone else,” Gwen lightheartedly said and went on her way.

\-----------

They attended all of Merlin’s sessions in the meanwhile. During the English class, Arthur learned more about Sir Tristam who was the topic of discussion a week after Sir Leon. Arthur knew Sir Tristam was a bully but he did not know that the knight had a fan following. He people from the lower town spoke positively about his sense of justice. The traders pounced on his chivalry and valor in stopping theft by other knights and guards. There were a few negative comments but no the group remained divided with his supporters far outweighing the denouncers.

From Merlin’s arbitration session, they spotted another set of people who were not fully satisfied. Amongst them was a servant who had brought a feud against another and accused another servant of burglary. Merlin took her claim lightly and did not punish the accused at all. Arthur convinced her to take her case to Lord Mathias and Arthur would give her a gold coin for her troubles. First, she hesitated, and then she agreed on the condition that Arthur would pay any other fine that was imposed on her along with the gold coin. He was also able to convince another two servants to take their complaints to Lord Mathias.

He was not allowed entry in Lord Mathias court when he solved the servants’ problems but found out that incidentally, all three servants who he had sent to Lord Mathias had lost. The first servant girl was found guilty of stealing the jewelry from the accused. He had taken the piece of jewelry from her and given it to the accused and sent her to the dungeons for three days. The other two also lost their cases and were punished harshly.

Arthur was beyond confused.

\----------

After all the decisions were out, Arthur once again sat with his two co-plotters, “This is bad. Lord Mathias had made horrible decisions and punished the victim excessively. Hw could he do that?”

Leon shrugged, “I don’t know anything anymore. Nothing is simple. Almost everyone has dual loyalties.”

Hector, on the other hand, calmly said, “That is not it. You were told Lord Mathias is biased and corrupt. You just did not want to believe it. Your lords may have been affected by the words of their peers and the testimony of peasants but Lord Mathias could have easily been bought. There is not even an iota of talk about evidence and testimony that changed the decision, Lord Mathias heard the case and decided without external prompt which means that he was sold to the decision beforehand. He was bribed.”

Leon snarled, “If we believe that we would have to believe Merlin and peasant friends are telling the truth about everything.”

Arthur sighed, “What if he was telling the truth?”

\------------ 


	6. Arthur’s POV-AD 624-Did they really do that?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur learns some unintentional truths the hard way.

Over the next few weeks, Arthur attended Merlin’s sessions. He found that Saturday’s sessions were a mostly repetitive exercise of solving the problems of the general body but also inducting new servants, peasants, and villagers to their fold.

Over the last three weeks, they had been offered the overlordship of two more villages. Arthur was depressed by the speed with which Merlin’s influence was growing. If he was truthful to himself, he was also proud of Merlin for starting this whole revolution. Not many servants can start something on this large scale and then had the strength of character to keep it going.

True to their intentions Eva and Edi were evading Gwen and not helping any other servants. Last time Gwen had cornered them and petitioned them to volunteer their time, they had again come up with a flimsy excuse. Gwen had not been kind and understanding like last time, she quietly said, “Ladies, you are on the edge. Next time, I have a request, make sure you are available otherwise you will not like the consequences. We do not like people manipulating us and trying to play the system that we have put in through hard work.”

Once she had left both Arthur and Leon laughed. There was no way that the servants could make them do anything that they did not want to. They would not let the servants run them around. Arthur knew his arrogance was showing but there was no way he would be defeated by the servants in this.

Thus, when Gwen cornered them next time they were ready with their flimsy excuse. This time Gwen laughed and said, “No worries ladies. I am proud that you have done such extraordinary work for Regum. He must be a hard taskmaster.”

The two ladies bobbed their heads in agreement and Gwen left. Both were surprised when Gwen winked at them.

They spent the next day trying to find another lead through which they can differentiate the guards who are pro-revolution and those who are loyal to the crown.

At six, Leon left to bring food for Regum and Arthur but he did not return for some time. Arthur went in search of him when someone banged a pot on his head.

Sometime later, someone threw cold water on his face and woke him up. He saw that he was tied and so was Leon. There was a gag in Arthur’s mouth and he could not speak anything. Gwen was standing in front of us and Merlin was standing at her side.

“Eva and Edi, we are disappointed in you. We thought you cared about the other servants in Camelot and were joining us to help improve our lot. You proved to be fickle and just wanted to benefit from our generosity. Thereby, we would like payment for the hard work that we have done on your behalf. Therefore, for the next three days, you will clean all the pigsties, stables, chamber pots, and urinals in the castle. If you do not move fast, one of us will publically put you on the knees and spank you. If you still did not learn your lesson after these public humiliations, then we will publically whip you. For the next three days, you will be gagged and not be allowed to speak.”

Merlin smiled, “Don’t worry, Lord Regum will not come searching for you as he has been informed that you had left Camelot for some urgent matters and he should expect you back in three days. He looked confused but then shrugged. In these three days, you will complete all the hours you were due to us including the three days other servants serve Lord Regum so you will be working for sixteen hours a day. Enjoy the punishment and we will give you a parting gift for your audacity to go against the rules and trying to break the system that we follow so conscientiously.”

Arthur tried to shout that he was the prince and they could not do this but the others laughed.

Then Sir Gwaine said, “I always say that the motivation to work comes from a bit of disgust. Now start cleaning this sty otherwise we will just throw all this shit on you. Remember we will not all you to bath until we deem that you have completed the day's duties. So, the cleaner you are the better your day will be.”

Then he picked up a handful of shit and threw it on them. The others also started picking up shit. Leon hurriedly moved forward and picked up the hoe to clean the sty. The prince followed him more uncertainly. His brain could only decide that he was in a bad dream and when he would wake up this would not be happening.

The next three days were a mess. They worked in the pigsty, then stables followed by kennels and then collecting chamber pot filth throughout the castle. By the time their sixteen-hour shift ended, they were bone tired and covered in filth. Arthur puked on the first day but found that the gag would not let all puke pass and he would have to be covered in puke as well as other filth so he controlled his emotions.

At the end of the day, they were taken to the stream and given fifteen minutes to wash. The gag was not removed and try as he might, Arthur was not able to disable the gag himself.

At the end of three days, he was thankful that the torture would end. After they returned from the stream, all the servants were gathered and Arthur could see that even though it was night, the population of the lower town was excited and celebrating.

Merlin said, “Edi and Eva we do not take punishing our own lightly but when we punish we do not give a slap on the wrist as punishment. Now that you had completed the time credits you owed other servants, we want to show you how you have dishonored yourselves. For the next hour, you will be forced to ride on the back of the donkey with your faces blackened with soot and a necklace of shoes around your neck. We hereby declare you as oath breaker and through you out of our support system.”

Arthur was staring at Merlin. He wanted to shout at Merlin. The crown prince of Camelot had awarded such punishment to people earlier but never had he dreamed that such would happen to him. He did not even dream it in his worst nightmare that he would be moved around Camelot with a blackened face and a necklace of shoes declaring him to be without respect until he earns it back.

The night ended of torment and ridicule ended for them an hour later when they were transported to their room. They were still wearing the necklaces and had blackened faces. The only difference was that their gaga had been removed just before they were thrown in their room and the door closed behind them with a thud.

When the door of the room closed so loudly, Regum woke up. He looked at Arthur’s and Leon’s state and could not help himself from laughing. After a few seconds, he regained his composure and asked, “Sire, what happened? I was told that you and Leon left Camelot for some family business which I thought was a clue word for finding more clues about Merlin’s treachery.”

“You idiot, we were kidnapped and then forced to work in the pigsties, stable, kennel, and around the castle for three days. We worked sixteen hours shift and just now were punished for foiling our honor. Call Hector immediately.”

Regum fled without saying another word as Leon started preparing for a bath for Arthur.

\---------

After the bath, Arthur recounted the whole story to Hector who could not stop the smile from spreading on his face and asked, “Did they do that?”

When both prince and first knight nodded, Hector turned his face and sniggered.

“Hector!!” Arthur shouted.

“Sire, it would be best if you sleep through the night. You are tired and overworked. We can discuss this tomorrow when you have cooled down. Anything you do now with be reactive and you will later regret it,” Hector sagely said.

Then before Arthur could respond, Hector fled. Regum was right behind him.

Arthur found it very difficult to sleep. How could he sleep? He had been humiliated by the servants. He was dragged around the town and everyone knew he was honorless. He may remove the clothes and persona of Eva but he will still know that the people saw him being run around like a disgraced person. He was lost and defeated.

Merlin had won.

\-----------------


	7. Merlin’s POV- AD 624-Not me but you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin tries to find out why Arthur is angry with him.

The next morning Eva and Edi left Camelot and a week later Prince Arthur and Sir Leon returned. Merlin was excited to see Arthur and was shadowing Arthur. He had missed Arthur. He was in a sour mood for the last whole week. Arthur’s absence was one reason for his bad mood followed by his knowledge that he was a bad leader as he often failed his people. In the last few weeks alone about ten people had shown that they did not trust his judgment and would face the harsher decision by the King and his appointed judges. He could not inspire trust and loyalty to the system in people like Edi and Eva. He also knew Arthur could inspire loyalty. He was a good leader and with some mentoring, he had the capability of becoming the greatest leader Albion had ever seen.

However, he was surprised by Arthur’s attitude. Arthur was cold and aloof. He was treating Merlin with disdain and had regressed to the time when he met Arthur for the first time. Arthur was acting like a bully and could barely stand Merlin’s company.

Merlin knew he must force Arthur to talk. A week after Arthur had returned, Merlin gathered his strength and took Arthur’s dinner to him.

Once Merlin had placed the food on the table, Arthur said, “Merlin, you are dismissed. I don’t need any more service from you tonight.”

“Sire, did I do anything wrong?” Merlin boldly asked.

“No. You may leave.”

“No. I will not. I want to know what I did to offend you. You are not acting normal. You are pushing me and punishing me for something and I don’t even know what it is or how to correct it.”

“Get lost, Merlin,” Arthur shouted while banging his glass on the table.

“No. I will not until you tell me what is the reason for this antagonism towards me.”

Now Arthur was shaking in anger but Merlin had faced worse foes than Arthur who intended to kill him. He would not be cowed by Arthur’s anger.

“I said get the hell out of my room. I will kill you.”

“Go ahead. My life is yours. But I will not leave until you tell me what is wrong.”

“No. Who do you think you are? You dare to change all the rules in Camelot, manipulate me, and usurp power form me and my father and you think I will not know. You have all the nobles cowering at your name and all the knights bowing to you. Do you want me to accept you as an overlord as well and bow when you enter the room? What do you think of yourself? What would you do if I hit you? Would the other servant's revolt against me? Merlin if you wanted power so much you could have asked once and I would have knighted you or made you my advisor or gave you land. Why did you plan this entire treason against me?” Arthur ended the exclamation on a defeated note.

Merlin was staring at Arthur in horror for a few seconds while Arthur continued the diatribe but then he understood and he laughed. He practically laughed.

“Arthur, you idiot. I will die before I even infringe on an iota of your power. Whatever you are thinking is wrong. Talk to me. Let me explain myself. Don’t push me away. Please,” Merlin begged with all his emotions and his heart laid out for Arthur, “Please.”

“What would you explain? Will you lie to me again?”

“Arthur you are my everything. Demand from me my neck and I will give it to you on a silver platter. Everything that is and belongs to Merlin is owned by Arthur.”

“How can you say that when you have set up a parallel throne? When you work against me and my family?”

“Never against you, my lord,” Merlin said as he went down on his knees in front of Arthur.

“But it is all against me,” Arthur deadpanned.

“It is not. It is in your name. Everyone knows that I am doing it all for you. So, you don’t have enemies and you can find allies in every corner of the kingdom. That people associate your name with justice, prosperity and hope,” Merlin persisted. “There is nothing that I have done that is against you. You must believe me. I only did this because while you were a good leader and learning to become a great one, your people were suffering. Someone needed to show them direction and given them hope for a beautiful future they will one day have under your rule.”

“Why do you think those people will follow me and want me at the crown and not you?”

Merlin shrugged, “I am not a good leader. I cant inspire trust and loyalty in the people as you can. Do you know how many people in the last few weeks showed their disdain and mistrust of my judgments? Arthur, I can help them but I am a servant. They will never fully trust me. For you, they will lie in their lives. Your people love you. They do think you are a prat and immature but they know you are young. I am a promise to the great future you will bring and as your manservant I am nothing but your mouthpiece to your people. You think they would trust a servant from outside Camelot with their hard-earned money. No, they will not. They trust you to reign me and keep me inbound so that I do not besmirk your reputation. It is all for you and your people.”

“You are a fool if you believe that. And I know you are not a fool. So, you are lying.”

“Then ask anyone, anyone, at all. Have I not made it clear daily that I am a servant and that I am only doing it for you. You know enough to know the nobles, knights, guards, servants, peasants, and villagers associated with me. Talk to anyone amongst them and they will tell you. I never made any false promises and my only one promise to everyone was that I am just paving the way for your greatness. To give you time to adjust to your roles while you have some freedom and anonymity as well as not to pit you against the king.”

“Why would I go against the King?”

“Arthur, you have a good heart. I had to lie to stop you from slaying your father and starting your reign from patricide. Don’t tell me you would have not tried to fight for your people’s rights even with your nobles and knights. Would you have stood by as your nobles raped the young innocent girls from the lower town? Would you have not started a ruckus if your knights were bullying me? This would have created problems with your father as he believes in the supremacy of the nobles above all others.”

“But it was not your decision. You should have told me you were bullied?”

“Arthur what would you have done?”

“I would have taught these knights and nobles a lesson that they would not forget and no one else would have dared touch you.”

“What about the other servants who were being bullied?”

“They are not my responsibility. You are my responsibility.”

Merlin for the first time looked up from the ground and sternly said, “Everyone of your men, women, and children irrespective of the class they belong to is your responsibility. Some knights and nobles would have stopped bullying me but they would have continued with the others. Also, this way there would be a grudge against you as you supported a servant over them. Your rule would be strife with tensions and betrayals. Then what would you do? One simple action from today would have consequences far in the future. When I say you are an immature prat, then I mean it. You think with your sword while you should think with your brain. By not forcing you to become a party in my and other servants' conflicts with the nobles and knights, your hands are clean. No knight or noble holds any grudge against you. Yet, they have stopped bullying servants. We win and your hands are still spotless.”

“This way the servants are loyal to you and not to me?”

“Well, you can test their loyalty. I know the servants love you. We will gladly lay our lives for you.”

“I have heard otherwise.”

“Sire, I have a proposition that will make you trust me. The servant's loyalty will be clear to you.”

“I am listening. You remember Anhora and his last test?”

“Yes.”

“Organize one for the servants. It does not matter which servants you choose, they will be ready to give up their lives for you.”

“We will do it now.”

“Yes, Sire.”

“Tell the guard to bring Leon, Hector, and Gaius.”

Merlin went to the door and ordered the guard to bring the said knights and physician.

Gaius was the first one to report, “Gaius, I need a few vials of poison, the stronger the better, a few vials of your strongest sleeping draught and some of the milder ones. Also, bring a few empty vials. Bring them here immediately.”

Gaius raised his eyebrow at the oddity of request but left.

“Leon, kidnap ten nobles, ten knights, ten servants, ten traders, and ten peasants from the lower town. Send some knights in camaflouge to do your bidding. I want them in the east dungeons which are unoccupied. Make it fast. Also, ensure those closest to Merlin are included in the list and don’t let anyone know that they are being kidnapped by us.”

Leon too nodded and left immediately to do the bidding.

“Hector, gather a few trustworthy men, ruthless looking but whom you trust impeccably. Bring them to the east dungeon.”

Hector too left.

Gaius returned fifteen minutes later carrying the required items.

Arthur took the collection from him and randomly picked up a bottle, inspected it for a few seconds, and then removed the description from the vial and handed it over to Merlin, “Drink this.”

Merlin did not hesitate for a second and gulped the potion down. He smiled at Arthur and then lost consciousness.


	8. Arthur’s POV- AD 624-Are they loyal?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final test and Arthur's decision.

Arthur had to start with Merlin. While there was no question of Merlin’s loyalty, Merlin could alert the others and bias the results. He needed to find the truth and for that, he must take Merlin out of the picture. He handed Merlin the strongest sleeping fraught Gaius had given him and then smiled when Merlin did not even wait for a second before drinking it. He moved forward and caught Merlin before he fell. He gently picked him up and then told Gaius to follow him as he made his way to the east dungeons.

In the dungeon, he directed a few guards to arrange the space that it looked dark and crampy. There he laid Merlin in the background. Hector bought his men and he arranged them in the room while he made on them the inquisitor. He told them his plan and what he expected from the group.

Then Sir Leon also came in. He nodded to Arthur and Arthur grinned, “Men, let's roll this out?”

“Whom do we start with?” Leon asked.

“The peasants. They are unlikely to understand what is happening and will give the men some practice to be more convincing for the nobles and knights.”

One of Hector’s men went out and brought in a man from the lower town.

The man said, “He is the baker in the eastern section of the lower town. He would recognize a few of us but not the others. If we rotate amongst ourselves, none of us will get caught.”

Arthur nodded and the inquisitor woke the baker up.

“Where am I?”

“You are under our custody. We want information from you?”

The baker looked around and was shocked to see Arthur and then he saw the prone form of Merlin. He whimpered, “What happened to him?”

“He was not ready to give us the information. He was forced to drink poison. He chose death over the betrayal.”

“Then I will choose death over the betrayal. You can't kill people like Merlin and hope to persuade others to join you. Every man, woman, and child from Camelot will search for you until they find you, and then they will tear you apart. I have nothing else to say. You can kill me as well.”

Arthur was shocked at the loyalty. He wanted to intervene but he was a roughed up prisoner.

The inquisitor laughed, “Well, lucky you. You will be given a chance to survive. There are two vials in front of you. You will drink one and your prince will be forced to drink the other one. One is a poison and the other is water.”

The peasant glared at the inquisitor and then he grabbed the two bottles and removed their covers. He brought them to his face to sniff them and then said, “Merlin is dead. The prince is my people's last hope. I will die before I let anything happen to him. And then he rushedly drank the liquid from both the vials.” He had a smile on his face as if he had thwarted the enemy. Then he spaced out.

Arthur was speechless. Did that happen? Arthur nodded to one of the men who carefully took the baker to the other room where Gaius would check on him and then let him sleep the rest of the potion away.

Hector and Leon were unsure what to say at such a performance. They bought in the ten peasants, one after the other, and eight preferred to save the prince and were ready t forfeit their lives. Arthur had to prompt them but pointing out that he can mix the two vials and drink from his one vial while the peasant would be safe.

Two of the peasants were sniveling and asking for their lives. They did not know any secrets of Camelot and they were just being ruled by the royal family who had never done anything outstanding for their people. They just wanted to live and take care of their children in their means.

When asked to drink the liquid, they did not touch one, and even after sniffing the drank hesitatingly and had an apologetic but firm face. They were choosing their own lives over the prince.

The servants were next. Gwen was bought in. When she was awoken, she looked at Arthur and said, “Sire, are you okay?”

“Yes,” he said in a hoarse voice.

Then her eyes caught Merlin and she cried, “What did you do to him?”

“He was not complaint so we killed him. This is what we will do to you if you do not agree to help you.”

Gwen was raging in anger, “You fools. How could you kill the one person who was committed to improving the lots of everyone including bandits like you? He had given chances to tens of men like you to have respectful lives. You low life good for nothing killers will not get anything from me.”

Then she spat on the face of the inquisitor and continued, “Dare to touch the prince and I would castrate you with my bare hands. You think you have the upper hand, you don’t. When it comes out you killed Merlin, no place in Camelot or Albion will be safe for you. Those who love him will avenge him. Touch the prince and every man, woman, and child of Camelot will become your enemy. Your wife will poison you in your sleep, you slumdog.”

Arthur was looking at Gwen in amazement. She was fierce but she was loyal to a fault to Merlin and through him to Arthur.

She too drank both the vials without prompt and then before she slept she punched the inquisitor in the face.

The cook, who was next, did not even seem fazed and assuredly whispered in the prince's ear in a soft voice, “My lord, keep safe and stay strong for a few more hours. If you are reported missing then the servants and peasants will start combing through the country. Merlin took some precautions and placed some measures that assured that if he and you both went missing at the same time, everyone who loyal to you and him will not stop until you are found. We will not let anything happen to you.”

Then she whimpered said to the inquisitor, “I am ready to tell you any secret of the state. I know many things. What do you want to know?”

“Who has access to the treasury? How many guards protect it?”

“Those are easy questions. You know the treasury is in the western dungeon which is protected by five guards. The king is overconfident and knows no one can break the lock of the treasure so he does not waste his men effort in protecting it. There are three keys to the treasury. One is with the King and you can never reach it. The second is with Lord Senei who is the treasurer and he is the most protected person in Camelot. He never moves without three knights surrounding him. You will not survive to go after him. The third key is the easiest. It was with the King’s ward, Lady Morgana, and is either in her chamber or her person. You can search her chamber but if you don’t find it there, you can contact Lady Morgana. She is an enemy of Camelot. She would readily trade the Key for the Prince. They are sworn enemies and she would like to kill him herself.”

The prince was looking at the cook who was so boldly lying to the bandit. She was buying him time.

They asked him for a few more question and she gave them answers with semi-truths but which would end up with the bandits spending a lot of time in the wrong places and keeping the prince alive as collateral.

Then the inquisitor put the two vials in front of her and told her the same condition, “Either you die or your prince.”

She sighed, “My Prince, I failed you. I am sorry.” Then for a lady who was her father’s age, she hurriedly took both the vials and gulped them down.

Arthur sat their wordlessly.

Then Hector bought another four servants who all cried for Merlin’s loss. They too chose to give up their lives for the princes’. The trend was similar. Only Merlin and the prince can bring stability and peace to their future and they had lost one protector and hoped to protect the other.

The seventh servant when he saw Merlin’s body, he laughed, “You were able to kill him. He was a pest. He was always around the prince and that himself better than us. He had nobles and the knights wrapped in his fingers. He could not do any wrong. I am glad you killed him. What do you want to know from me? I will assist you if you let me share some of your bounties.”

So, it seemed that he was not one of Merlin’s stooges.

“Not so fast. Let's check your loyalty for the prince.”

Then the inquisitor placed the two vials in from of the servant and told him the condition for his life. He was quiet for some time and then boomed, “You want us to drink from these vials but I don’t have to drink them. The prince can drink both of them. Help me and I will make the prince drink both of them.”

So, this one was not a friend of Camelot. Arthur would throw him out of Camelot once he had time to discuss this with Merlin. Merlin would know best about the loyalty of this seemingly traitorous servant.

He took the two vials and bought them to Arthur. Before he could do anything else, the other men restrained him.

Arthur said, “Keep him in custody, Hector. It seems that some of those, who are not loyal to Merlin, are not loyal to Camelot as well. We will find a way to fish traitors like him at a later time.”

The next two were Merlin’s men and tried to buy some time for Arthur but ended up drinking both the vials. The last one was unassociated with Merlin, he was neither happy nor sad about Merlin’s death but he was loyal to Camelot and he too drank from both the vials when Arthur suggested he would drink the poison.

Hector said, “Sire, I have never seen such a display of loyalty from the servants and peasants. They are not knights and we often presume they are without honor but today they rewrote an entire chapter in love, respect, loyalty, and hope. They drank the poison for you in the hope that you will one day improve their lot. They were compensating for Merlin’s loss by hoping that his faith in you is not misguided.”

Arthur looked down. He was clueless now. His manservant claimed that he was earning the loyalty of the servants and peasants for him and it looked like his claims were true.

The knights were next. The first one bought in was Sir Gwaine. He looked at Arthur and said, “Hi princess. Did not want to meet you in such a state?”

He was going to make another joke when he saw Merlin’s prone form.

“What happened to him?”

“He died protecting your worthless prince.”

“Is that so?” Gwaine calmly said.

Then Gwaine jumped on the inquisitor even with his hands tied back, he used his legs and head to break the inquisitor’s nose and then jaw. By the time, he was restrained again, tears were leaking down his face.

When the two vials were placed in front of him, and only one of his hands released, he smirked at Arthur, “This is for Merlin. I believe in him and I believe in his trust in you. I know you will bring prosperity to Camelot but what is life without the one you love. I give you a chance to make this world a better one while I chase him in the afterlife.”

He drank both the vials and his eyes were now on Merlin.

Arthur would have been giddy with so much blackmail material on his most prodigal knight; yet, Arthur was getting angry at Gwaine who had made this test into a double declaration of his love for Merlin. He was also jealous, Merlin was his. Nobody else had the right to Merlin’s affections. Where did that thought come from? He did not vie for Merlin’s love but maybe he did and he had for many years. That is why he let Merlin do whatever he wanted without repercussions. How many other servants could have taught his knights and nobles a lesson and not be executed? How many of them could have started parallel governments and not be burned on the pyre? Merlin did everything and still, Arthur protected him from his father’s wrath. What the hell!

When Sir Lancelot looked at Merlin's body, he cried and softly said, “My Lord, today you lost one of your biggest supporters and protectors. Now you will don’t have the luxury to be immature or be young and carefree. It's you against the world.”

He worldlessly drank from the two vials and passed out.

All the remaining eight of his knights were loyal and some even expressed their sorrow at Merlin’s death.

The Lords were an interesting lot. Leon had selected three who were friends with Merlin and the other six were neither influenced by Merlin nor against him. They had paid their homage to Merlin when they arrived in Camelot. The last one was lord Madoc who had refused to pay homage to Merlin. 

Lord Cuthbert had been sorrowful for Merlin’s death. Lady Solaris cried a few tears and told the men that she was sure they would get their due soon. She was confident that those who followed Merlin would avenge him. Lady Evaine just sighed and said, “You think his death will change anything? He was a leader who gave them a direction. Now others will take that power and we don’t know if they will be as honorable as he was. I fear for the nobles more than ever before. For you, I have no fear, you will die the worst death possible.”

All three drank the poison willingly. Arthur could not understand if they were loyal to Merlin or Arthur but that they were loyal.

Lord Madoc was loyal as well. Before he drank from the two vials, he just grinned at Merlin’s dead body and laughed, “So, the upstart got his due. I am sorry Arthur but for some people’s death is important for the stability of the kingdom. Your manservant was one of them and you will see that the nobles will once again get their powerful hold on the servants. My peers would not have to pay homage to a servant and I am glad for it even though I am sad for your loss.”

Arthur knew he had lost respect for Sir Maddoc but they would learn to coexist as Merlin did with him. They would never have the same world views.

Of the other six, two were loyal while the other four were ready to assist the bandits. They offered them everything from money to the crown of Camelot. Two of them were ready for Arthur to sacrifice himself for their life while the other two would have force-fed him both the vials.

Once all the people were done, Leon softly said, “Sire, we may have been wrong. Those who were close to Merlin readily gave up their life for you. He inspired love and loyalty for you in his associates even among the nobles. It is those who don’t trust him that we have to be wary of. Some like Lord Madoc are loyal but there are others like Lord Kay who would betray the crown for his life.”

Hector nodded, “I did not things were so bad, my lord. I just thought that it was all to do with improving the servants’ and peasants’ lot but it seems like Merlin was also bringing them firmly under your banner.”

Gaius who was standing closeby said, “I am also surprised by the knights. When Uther was the crown prince, many knights wanted to show him down or were jealous of him. Once he became king, there were at least five assassination attempts from his knights which I am aware of. Your knights are more loyal to you if they were ready to give up their lives for you.”

Hector said, “They would be. Arthur is a very considerate prince and officer.”

Arthur shook his head, “I told you, it was Merlin’s doing. He was manipulating me and I played in his hands. Also, as Merlin said, I never fought with any knight for a servant and never humbled them for something that would make them lose faith. All in all, he was making me a better man, and my knights approved of it. He was earning the loyalty of my men including my knights for me.”

Leon asked, “Sire, now what do we do with the conspiracy? Do we let it go unchecked?”

Arthur was quiet for some time and then said, “Why should it be a conspiracy? Why can't I do it under my banner? Merlin is doing all these things in my name so why don’t I take control of all these initiatives and put Merlin’s team in charge of it under my leadership. I will become their patron in the court and I will have support. There are still those like Lord Cuthbert, Ladu Solais, and Lady Evaine who are loyal to me and Merlin’s cause.”

“That is an excellent idea,” Hector readily agreed.

“But what about Merlin? Should we not report him to the king?” Leon asked.

Arthur’s hand reflexively went to his sword and Leon saw the movement. His face lost color and he stammered, “Sire, it was only a thought.”

“And I know what you think Leon. Merlin is mine and only I will punish him. We have seen that is loyal and I will not dish out death to someone loyal to me,” Arthur boomed.

“Sire, but what will you tell the king about Merlin’s power?”

“I was thinking of promoting him. He will be my advisor and my official representative to the trader’s guilds of Camelot. He was drawing his power from his unofficial position and now that the lords have accepted him as their peer, they would not have an issue to see him promoted.”

Leon nodded but Hector asked, “I thought you were going to make him your consort? The way you reacted to Leon’s question implied that you are very protective of him.”

“I am but both of us are young and I will find a way to make him my consort but it will have to wait a few years. Father’s health is deteriorating after Morgana’s betrayal. I will not add stress to his poor condition. I just have to ensure that I don’t get married and I keep Merlin’s interest long enough till I become the king.”

“Will that be wise? Why don’t you have a queen and make Merlin a bedwarmer?” Leon inquired. “Then your people will have a Queen and you will have heirs.”

“But I will lose Merlin. I know from reliable sources that Merlin will not come between my Queen and me. The day I marry, I will lose Merlin to Gwaine or someone else. He will stay by my side but he will not love me anymore.”

“But the Queen?”

“The people have chosen the consort of their heart. They want to see Merlin sitting beside me and who am I to disappoint my people. They will have their dream consort and we will adopt some heirs and raise them together,” Arthur said with finality.

“Or you and Merlin can sire some children and raise them together. They will have your blood and they will have the best claim to the crown.” Gaius sagaciously added.

“I don’t know Merlin would agree to this?”

“He would as he need to sire a few natural-born children. He has still kept a few secrets from you but he must pass his bloodline and he will agree to you siring natural-born children. If they have the same mother, your children will be siblings.” Gaius explained.

Arthur huffed, “Will the secrets ever end?”

Gaius proudly said, “Now that you have matured and accepted your responsibility, they would. Merlin would tell you all.”

Arthur was looking forward to knowing everything about Merlin. He knew he would fulfill Merlin’s dream of a prosperous and thriving Camelot for all.


End file.
